An amendment to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法) passed the legislative floor yesterday prohibiting international marriage brokers from seeking profits. Under the new legislation, violators could face fines of up to NT$1 million (US$30,000).
Anti-discrimination and anti-domestic violence regulations were also added to the amendment, which stipulates that it is against the law to discriminate against people on the basis of nationality, race, skin color, social rank or place of birth.
Foreign spouses are allowed to apply for a restraint order if they have been the victim of domestic violence and will be able to stay in Taiwan temporarily if divorced, rather than being deported immediately.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Anybody violating the anti-discrimination and anti-domestic violence regulations will face fines of up to NT$30,000.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (
The law also protects assembly and parade rights for immigrants.
Immigration agency charges will be regulated and immigration officers must review applications on short-term, temporary and permanent residency, according to the amendments.
Immigrants who were smuggled into Taiwan should be placed in temporary refuges with proper care before being deported, according to the amendments.
Meanwhile, in related news, some 80,000 immigrant spouses who have not yet been naturalized may benefit from a new policy announced by the Ministry of the Interior yesterday to allow more forms of financial proof during the citizenship application process.
Under the Nationality Law (
However, many immigrant groups protested that the requirement is discriminatory and unjust.
In response, the ministry has decided to "include more accepted forms of financial proof, and allow alternative ways to calculate the total amount," Deputy Minister Lin Mei-chu (
In addition to financial proof based on savings, new forms of financial proof accepted include "verification of employment with the amount of salary and period of employment, movable properties with a total estimated value of more than 24 times the legal minimum [monthly] wage, real estate properties with a total estimated value of more than 24 times the legal minimum [monthly] wage, or a certificate of professional skills issued by the government," Lin said.
"Movable properties" include stocks, funds, government bonds, and insurances, while the value of real estate properties must be proved by submitting a real estate value assessment report by a certified real estate assessor or a receipt for land value tax, Lin said.
The financial proof may include values of properties under the names of an immigrant spouse's Taiwanese spouse, the Taiwanese spouse's parents, or the immigrant spouse's parents if registered as residents of Taiwan, she said.
A certificate of professional skill is also valid if it belongs to the immigrant spouse's Taiwanese spouse, parents, or parents of the Taiwanese spouse, if these people are willing to provide them with a financial guarantee, she said, adding that any document that can prove one's professional skills may be counted as a certificate of professional skills.
She cited a taxi driver's license as an example.
Hsieh Ai-ling (謝愛齡), director of the ministry's population administration department, said the new policy may be in place as soon as the end of the year.
More than 78,000 immigrant spouses still awaiting naturalization "could benefit from the new policy," Hsieh said.
However, Hsieh pointed out that the number does not include Chinese immigrant spouses, as the "naturalization process for them falls under the jurisdiction of the Mainland Affairs Council," she said.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
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