Both foreign nationals who wish to work in Taiwan and their employers in Taiwan, must meet the qualifications criteria before the foreign nationals will be granted work permits. The Workforce Development Agency (WDA) serves as the country’s one-stop shop for work permits for foreign professionals. The WDA aims to reduce the confusion that existed when different government organizations were separately responsible for processing and issuing foreign work permits for professionals in industries under their purview. The WDA processes work permits in the following areas:

• architecture and civil engineering
• transportation
• taxation and financial services
• real estate agencies
• immigration services
• attorneys-at-law (legal services)
• technicians
• medical and health care
• environmental protection
• cultural, sports and recreation services
• academic research
• veterinarians
• manufacturing
• wholesaling
• other jobs designated by the central governing authorities and central competent authorities as determined after a joint consultation between the authorities

Foreign nationals’ intra-company transfers must comply with the same criteria and standards applicable to skilled workers (white-collar workers), except in the case of short-term (not exceeding 30 days) contract performance. If the scheduled period of contract performance is between 31 days and 90 days, the foreign national still has to apply for a valid work permit within a period of 30 days after entering Taiwan. If the scheduled period of contract performance exceeds 90 days, the foreign national’s work permit application must comply with the same criteria and standards applicable to skilled workers. The Taiwanese legal entity to which the foreign national will be transferred must take the role of an employer in the foreign national’s work permit application.

An employer seeking to engage foreign technical and professional personnel to work in Taiwan must serve as any one of the following:

• a local company established for less than one year with an operating capital of at least TWD 5 million or with average import/export transactions of at least USD 1 million or average agent commissions of at least USD 400,000
• a company established for more than one year with an annual revenue of TWD 10 million for the most recent year or an average annual revenue of TWD 10 million for the past three years
• a company established for more than one year with average import/export transactions of at least USD 1 million or average agent commissions of at least USD 400,000
• a foreign branch office established in Taiwan for less than one year with an operating capital of more than TWD 5 million or with average import/export transactions of at least USD 1 million or average agent commissions of at least USD 400,000
• a foreign branch office established for more than one year with an annual revenue of at least TWD 10 million for the most recent year or an average revenue of TWD 10 million for the past three years, or with average import/export transactions of at least USD 1 million or average agent commissions of at least USD 400,000
• a representative office of foreign companies that has been approved by the competent authorities at the central government level and has an actual performance record in Taiwan
• a research and development center and business operations headquarters that has applied to establish its business and has been approved by the relevant competent authorities concerned at the central government level
• an employer that has made a substantial contribution to domestic economic development. Alternatively, the employer has a circumstance that is treated as a special case by the central governing authorities and the central competent authorities and after the joint consultation between the authorities, the authorities have approved the circumstance

There are no established quotas for foreign workers in Taiwan. The Ministry of Labor will, along with specific industry authorities, decide on the number of work permits that it will grant each year based on an evaluation of the employment market, the employers’ industries and the social and economic development of the country.

A new points-based scoring system was instituted by the Ministry of Labor for foreign students, overseas compatriot students and other overseas students of Chinese descent if they have graduated and obtained a bachelor’s degree from a public or private university in Taiwan. This operates despite the fact that these students would not normally qualify for a work permit, as most of them lack the minimum of two years of work experience in the related field. However, the new system will calculate an applicant’s scores by taking into account a range of factors, including whether:

• the foreign national is adequately fluent in Chinese, English or any other language
• the foreign national has lived in another country for more than six years or whether they have any creative talents which qualify them under the government authorities’ industrial development policy
• the foreign national meets the minimum monthly salary requirement in the case of a white-collar work permit application (the minimum monthly salary requirement is TWD 47,971 or approximately USD 1,600)

If the foreign national’s final scores reach 70 points or greater, they will qualify for work permit approval. The employment quota for the scoring system in the 2021 calendar year is 2,500.

Foreign nationals, other than a company’s managerial representative, must meet certain education and experience requirements before being granted a permit to work in Taiwan. As applicable, these requirements are:

• to acquire a certificate, license or operational qualifications through the procedures specified in the examinations required for specific professionals and technical specialties
• to earn a master’s degree or above in a relevant field
• to earn a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and possess more than two years of working experience in a specific field
• to have been employed with a multinational company for more than one year and assigned by that company to work in Taiwan
• to be a professionally trained or self-taught specialist with more than five years of work experience in his specialization and who has demonstrated creative and outstanding performance

The above-mentioned qualifications are not required for a foreign national employed as a registered executive or managerial officer (e.g., general manager or branch manager) of a foreign company in Taiwan.

The Taiwan government began enforcing the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (the Act) on 8 February 2018, with its purpose to attract more foreign professionals to work in Taiwan. In this regard, the government authorities have initiated measures including a tax incentive program and retirement benefits for those foreign nationals who meet any one of the criteria for the listed professional fields. There are a total of eight special professional fields, as follows:

• Science & Technology
• Economics
• Education
• Culture and Arts
• Sports
• Finance
• Legal
• Architecture

 The Act contains many benefits under certain terms and conditions as follows:

• Applicability: The Act will apply to foreign professionals, foreign special professionals and foreign senior professionals, as defined under the Act, the Employment Services Act and relevant laws and regulations.
• Extended employment term and Employment Gold Card: For foreign special professionals, the maximum employment period has been extended to five years under the Act, which is applicable to their dependents as well. The government authorities’ new innovation, the Employment Gold Card, enables foreign nationals to file an application as a one-stop service through the government authority’s online system. Also available to foreign special professionals is an Employment Gold Card which combines their work permit, resident visa, alien resident certificate and multiple re-entry permit. However, this Employment Gold Card must be renewed after a maximum period of three years.
• A foreign national may initiate the Employment Gold Card application without a local employer’s sponsorship. This meant an applicant may direct apply for Employment Gold Card by him/herself if he/she meet the relevant criteria. Furthermore, an Employment Gold Card holder, during the valid period, may freely change his/her job or engage in another work in the same special professional field, without having to file another application separately.
• Employment-seeking visa: Foreign professionals looking for jobs in Taiwan are eligible to apply for an employment-seeking visa so that they can search for a job in Taiwan. The visa is a multiple-entry visa that is valid for up to six months from issuance.
• Minimum stay for permanent residency: Previously, a foreign national who resided in Taiwan for less than the 183 days per year minimum of stay requirement would have had their Alien Permanent Resident Certificate (APRC) revoked. Under the Act, this requirement has now been substantially relaxed so that the government will only revoke an APRC after the foreign national has been away from Taiwan for more than five years.
• Easing of provisions regarding stay or residence of parents, spouses and children: The requirements for dependents of foreign professionals with permanent residence has been relaxed. The dependents of any age must only continually and lawfully reside in Taiwan for a period of five years and for more than 183 days in each of those years. There is no longer the requirement to produce proof of assets.
• Tax, insurance and retirement benefits: Foreign professionals who are employed and approved for the APRC may now subscribe to the pension system under the Labor Pension Act. This is applicable to employees who have obtained employment after the enactment of the Act, whereas employees who obtained employment prior to the enactment of the Act will have six months to notify their employers if they want to continue to remain in the pension system under the Labor Standards Act. The requirement for a six-month minimum stay to enable dependents of foreign nationals to become eligible as beneficiaries under the National Health Insurance Act, has now been removed. Foreign special professionals in Taiwan who earn an annual salary over TWD 3 million will be eligible for a tax break on half of any amount that exceeds TWD 3 million. For example, a multi-national software company hires an APAC Regional Director with an annual salary package of TWD 5 million. In accordance with this generous tax break, the new hire would be taxed only on TWD 4 million, with TWD 1 million determined to be tax-free. However, to be considered eligible, foreign special professionals will first be required to reside in Taiwan for more than 183 days in a calendar year.