The Legislative Yuan's Home and Nations Committee yesterday passed the first reading of an amendment to the Immigration Law that will reduce by over a third the number of days per year that foreigners must spend in Taiwan to become eligible for permanent residency.
The amendment, to Article 23 of the law, states that foreigners who have been in Taiwan for at least 183 days per year for seven consecutive years will be eligible to apply for permanent residency.
The amendment also states that foreigners who have spent 183 days per year in any 10 years within a period of 20 consecutive years prior to the date on which the amendment takes effect will also be eligible for permanent residency.
The Immigration Law currently requires residence in Taiwan for at least 270 days per year for seven consecutive years to be eligible for permanent residency.
The amendment would also reduce from eight in any 15-year period to five in any 10-year period the number of years that foreign spouses and children of Taiwan nationals must have lived in Taiwan before applying for permanent residency. The current requirement of 183-days' residence during those years would continue to apply.
The new amendment also requires the National Police Administration to form a special commission to screen applications from foreign experts in high technology or others who have made significant contributions to Taiwan to obtain permanent residency. It does not define the terms "high technology" or "significant contributions."
According to police statistics, currently some 2,800 foreigners who have been in Taiwan for at least 183 days for seven consecutive years would be eligible for permanent residency under the amendment.
Two foreigners who have campaigned for residence and citizenship in Taiwan, however, yesterday expressed their dissatisfaction with the amendment.
Richard Hartzell (
"Under Article 31 of the Immigration Law, foreigners who have the Taiwan Alien Permanent Resident Certificate (APRC) are required to stay in Taiwan for at least 183 days every year in order to retain the certificate. Many foreigners have told me that they feel less free after they obtain the APRC," Hartzell said.
Hartzell emphasized that foreigners deserve the freedom to travel in and out of the country whenever they like after gaining permanent residency.
KMT legislator Apollo Chen (
Dan Jacobson, an American who has campaigned for Taiwanese citizenship for years, said that Taiwan should think about whether it wants foreigners to be seen as an integral feature of life in Taiwan.
"If Taiwan wants to be a well developed country, it should allow people with different skin-colors to be citizens," Jacobson said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique