The Cabinet yesterday proposed easing residency rules for foreigners and Taiwanese without household registration to attract and retain professionals to work in the country in order to address a growing brain drain.
Under the proposed amendment to the Immigration Act (入出國移民法), the Cabinet suggested removing the requirement that foreigners granted permanent resident status spend more than 183 days each year in the country to keep their status valid.
The amendment proposes revoking the permanent resident status of foreign nationals only if they stay overseas for more than five years.
It also recommends exempting foreign nationals who have been issued a “four-in-one” card, known as an “employment pass,” which incorporates a visa, work permit, alien resident’s certificate and re-entry permit, from a rule that requires foreigners to apply for an alien resident certificate (ARC) within 30 days after they are granted the right to stay or reside in the country.
The ARC serves as an ID card and proof of residency for foreign nationals.
If the amendment is approved by the legislature, more foreigners will be eligible to apply for ARCs, including foreigners employed as consultants or researchers by government agencies or their subordinate academic research institutes, or employed at a public or registered private college/university within six months in the field of a course of lectures or academic research approved by the Ministry of Education.
The rules would also apply to the applicants’ spouses, minor children and children aged 20 and above who are single, with disabilities or incapable of caring for themselves.
Another proposal seeks to encourage young foreign talent to work in Taiwan by granting ARCs to foreign students who study, either in college, university, or short-term language courses, or attend an internship program in the country after they have completed their education.
For Taiwanese without household registration, the amendment would ease rules for the offspring of Taiwanese living overseas to apply for residency.
The amendment would remove the current age limit that overseas-born Taiwanese under the age of 20 cannot apply for residency.
In addition, the minimum period of stay for nationals without household registration to apply for residency would be reduced to five years, with no less than 183 days spent in Taiwan per year, from the current seven years.
The amendment would also give greater flexibility for spouses and minors of Taiwanese without household registration to apply for residence status.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
RSS