APRC

The new laws have been officially implemented on October 25, 2021.

The National Immigration Agency.

Please refer to the National Immigration Agency’s guide to the Application for Permanent Residency.

(English)

(Chinese)

In order to apply, you must meet ALL of the following requirements:

1. Held a Gold Card for at least three years, have stayed in Taiwan as a Gold Card holder for three consecutive years or more, and have resided in Taiwan for an average of 183 days or more per year.
2. Must be an adult.
3. No criminal record or history of bad behavior.
4. Have considerable assets or skills.
5. In accordance with our country’s national interest.

Please refer to the National Immigration Agency’s guide to the Application for Permanent Residency.

(English)

(Chinese)

No, you must submit an application.

For the 3-year calculation period of permanent residency, you must reside in Taiwan as a Gold Card holder. If your original ARC has met the requirements of Article 25 of the Immigration Act, it can be combined with your Gold Card status, but the total number of years required to apply for permanent residency is 5 (e.g., 3 years with a foreign professional ARC plus 2 years as a Gold Card holder).

The start date for calculating permanent residency is the Date of Issue indicated on your original Gold Card. As long as your Gold Card is valid for 3 years, you have resided in Taiwan for an average of more than 183 days per year, and you meet the other application requirements, you can apply for permanent residency.

*Please note that you will receive a new card with a new Date of Issue if you update your information or lose your Gold Card. Should this happen, please refer back to your original Date of Issue, or confirm with the National Immigration Agency.

Yes. Foreign Special Professional status + Gold Card holder status residing in Taiwan for at least 3 years can apply for permanent residency.

For Gold Card holders, a Doctoral Degree Certificate issued by a Taiwanese institution can count towards 1 year of your residency. In other words, a Gold Card holder with a Doctorate Degree (Ph.D.) in Taiwan can apply for permanent residency earliest after residing in Taiwan for 2 years.

The spouse and children of Gold Card holders may apply for permanent residency as long as they meet ONE of the following requirements (choose the requirement that is most beneficial to you):

1. After the Gold Card holder has obtained permanent residency for at least 3 years, their spouse, underage children, or adult children with mental/physical disabilities who are unable to care for themselves, may apply for permanent residency without financial proof if they have stayed in Taiwan legally for at least 3 consecutive years, for an average of 183 days or more per year.
2. The spouse and children of Gold Card holders may apply for permanent residency if they have legally resided in Taiwan for at least 5 consecutive years and for more than 183 days per year, and has also met the requirements of Article 25 of the Immigration Act.

NOTE: For Gold Card holders who have obtained a Doctorate Degree from a Taiwanese institution, the residency requirement is shortened from 3 years to 2 years. However, this does not impact the residency requirements for the Gold Card holder’s spouse or children, who may only apply for permanent residency after living in Taiwan for 3 years.

Application for Permanent Residence Information:

(English)

(Chinese)

The new relaxations and amendments do not apply to the Entrepreneur Visa.

These original benefits will not be affected:

1. Open work permit (not bound to a certain employer or company).
2. Visitor Visas for relatives.
3. Spouse and children can apply for residency.
4. Eligible for National Health Insurance.

New benefits:

1. No need to apply for a work permit.
2. Permanent residency application for dependents reduced to 3 years without need of financial proof.
3. Adult children who meet certain residency requirements may apply for individual work permits.
4. The New Labor Pension Act can be applied. If you are a teacher or researcher, you can choose to receive a one-time pension or monthly pension.

It is recommended that you submit the application for extension at least 4 months prior to your Gold Card’s expiration date.

If you do not apply for an extension within the validity period of your Gold Card, you will not be able to apply for an extension and will have to re-apply for a Gold Card. This means that the Date of Issue for your reapplied Gold Card will not be able to continue from the expiration date of your previous card. This means that your stay in Taiwan as a Gold Card holder will be interrupted, which may affect your eligibility to apply for permanent residency after 3 years of residing in Taiwan. Instead, you need to stay in Taiwan for 5 consecutive years before you can apply for permanent residency.

If you have submitted an application for the extension of your Gold Card, while you are waiting for approval, you can apply for an Employment Seeking Resident Certificate (maximum 6+6 months) at the National Immigration Agency. When the extension application is approved, the validity period of your Gold Card will continue from the expiry date of your original Gold Card, meaning the validity period of your Gold Card will not be interrupted.

The amendment regarding permanent residency is for foreign employment gold cardholders, not including Hong Kong or Macau residents.

The application of Hong Kong and Macau residents (Hong Kong & Macau gold cardholders included) for residence and settlement in Taiwan is handled in accordance with Articles 16 and 29 of the “Regulations Governing Permits for Hong Kong and Macao Residents Entering the Taiwan Area and Setting up Residence or Registered Permanent Residence in R.O.C” issued by the National Immigration Agency of the Ministry of the Interior.

If you have any doubts about the settlement, please contact the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council for more information.

• Phone Number：(02)2700-3199、(02)2397-1088
• Fax：(02)2700-3200
• E-mail：careyou@thec.org.tw
• Address：3F, No.2, Alley 17, Lane 147, Section 3, Xinyi Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106
• Website

A perfect application takes at least 14 working days if your supporting documents are accepted the first time. If you are asked to provide additional supporting documents, expect 30 days.

Yes, your parents are eligible for the application.

You can apply for a 6+6 month extension of stay at the National Immigration Agency, which will allow you to remain in Taiwan for a maximum of 12 months, but you cannot work. If you want to work in Taiwan, you will need to apply for a work permit.

If you hold an APRC but have been abroad and have not entered Taiwan for over 5 years, or you are under the circumstances listed in Article 33 of the Immigration Act except the Paragraph 4, then your Permanent Resident Permit will be revoked or repealed and your Alien Permanent Resident Certificate will be canceled.

(English) (Chinese)

On page 6 of the following document under Matters of Attention #2, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) lists a few options for you to provide proof of financial assets.

Instructions on Document Submission by Foreigners Applying for Permanent Residency

The NIA requires one of the following documents:

• In the most recent year (meaning either the twelve months up to and including the month preceding the date of the application, or the year from January to December preceding the date of the application) having an average monthly income that is more than twice the minimum monthly wage announced by the Ministry of Labor (if the withholding vouchers or salary income certificates used for calculating the applicant’s income traverse two years, the minimum monthly wage announced by the Ministry of Labor for the most recent year will be taken as the basis for calculating twice the minimum monthly wage; if the calendar year preceding the date of the application is used for calculating the applicant’s income, the minimum monthly wage announced by the Ministry of Labor for that year will be taken as the basis for calculating twice the minimum monthly wage), may submit one of the following documents that upon approval by the NIA:

  1. Alien Individual Income Tax Return (those filing online should complete the procedure to upload their filing and get the National Taxation Bureau’s electronic stamp of approval).
  2. Comprehensive Income Tax Information List.
  3. Salary income withholding tax voucher issued by employer.

• Having chattels and real estate in Taiwan with an estimated total value in excess of five million NT dollars (NT$5,000,000).

• Having certification issued by an ROC (Taiwan) government authority of qualification equivalent to passing the Senior Qualification Examination for Professional and Technical Personnel or gaining Technician Skills Certification of Class B or above.

• Having other approval from the NIA.

For Monthly Basic Wage (Minimum Wage), please refer to the Ministry of Labor’s website.