Labor: Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professional Talent

[2017/11/07]

On 31 October 2017, the Legislative Yuan gave its third and final reading to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professional Talent, which relaxes restrictions on the work, visas, and residency of foreign professionals, and also provides advantages in the areas of tax and health insurance. The National Development Council expects the Act and its associated secondary legislation to take effect before the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February 2018. The main changes brought about by the new law are as follows:

1. Relaxed provisions on work, visas, and residency

(1) Foreign “special” professionals (i.e. those working in certain designated fields) will be able to apply for a four-in-one “Employment Gold Card” that combines a work
      permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC), and multiple reentry permit in one document, without the need for an application to be submitted by an
      employer. This will make it easier for professionals to change jobs. The maximum period of an employment permit before renewal is required is extended from
      three years to five years.
(2) Freelance foreign artists will be able to apply for individual work permits themselves, without having to go through an employer.
(3) Foreign teachers with specialist knowledge or skills will be allowed to teach in supplementary education schools, and will no longer be restricted to teaching only
      foreign languages.
(4) Employment-seeking visitor visas will be made available for foreign professionals to come to Taiwan to seek work.
(5) Foreign professionals holding an Alien Permanent Resident Certificate (APRC) will no longer need to remain within Taiwan for at least 183 days per year to maintain
      their permanent resident status.

2. Relaxed provisions on family members’ residency and visits

(1) Spouses, minor children, and disabled adult children of permanently resident foreign professionals will be eligible to apply for permanent residency in Taiwan.
(2) Spouses, minor children, and disabled adult children of foreign “senior” professionals (i.e. those with a high level of achievement in certain designated fields) will be
      eligible to apply for permanent residency together with the main applicant.
(3) Adult children of permanently resident foreign professionals will be eligible to apply for work permits, subject to requirements on length of prior residency.
(4) The maximum length of a single family visit by a parent or grandparent of a resident or permanently resident foreign professional will be increased from six months
      to one year.

3. More favorable conditions for retirement, health insurance, and income tax

(1) Permanently resident foreign professionals will be eligible to enroll in the Labor Pension scheme under the Labor Pensions Act.
(2) Spouses, minor children, and disabled adult children of employed foreign professionals will be eligible to enroll in the National Health Insurance scheme without
      being subject to the normal waiting period of six months.
(3) For a first-time resident foreign special professional, 50% of their salary income above NT$3 million will be exempt from income tax for up to three years. This applies
      in the first year in which their salary income exceeds NT$3 million and they remain within Taiwan for at least 183 days, and in the next two eligible years, within a
      five-year period.