Ministry of the Interior to ease residency rules

The Ministry of the Interior will amend regulations and establish a new committee to help foreigners gain permanent residency visas more easily, Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) said during a visit to the Bureau of Immigration (入出境管理局) yesterday.

While details of the amendment are not clear, the ministry emphasized that the revisions would move toward relaxing the current rules.

Foreigners who have lived in Taiwan for decades have fought to receive permanent residency visas, but most have failed in their bids because of frequent trips taking them out of the country -- this despite the significant contributions some have made to the nation.

At least five well-known for-eigners who have lived in Taiwan for decades have appealed to the government to grant them permanent residency.

Yu highlighted the cases of Bjarne Gislefoss (徐賓諾), a Nor-wegian and former superintendent of the Puli Christian Hospital and his wife Alfhild Gislefoss (紀歐惠) as an example yesterday.

Yu visited the couple in Puli last Thursday.

The couple has lived in Taiwan for more than 40 years but has failed to gain permanent-residency status. Puli citizens, legislators and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) have all expressed concern about the case, but such efforts have been in vain.

Under the Immigration Law (入出國及移民法), foreigners who apply for permanent residency must be present in Taiwan for at least 270 consecutive days per year for seven years.

Prior to Yu's appointment as minister, the issue attracted attention from the former minister and legislators. KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) appealed in January for government approval to amend laws for foreigners who have dedicated themselves to Taiwan for extended periods of time.

Former minister of the Interior Chang Po-ya (張博雅), before she stepped aside last month, asked the ministry to support Chen's proposal and called for regulations to be changed so that foreigners who have been in Taiwan for at least 183 consecutive days per year for 10 years could apply for permanent-residency status.

There are more than 800 for-eigners who qualify for Chen's proposal, a number the Bureau of Immigration worries might "unbalance" Taiwan's population.

The Immigration Bureau started reconsidering Chen's proposal and looked at setting up a committee to examine foreigners' contributions and specialties to Taiwan as criteria for residency status rather than basing the decision on time spent in Taiwan.

The bureau believes that the committee would be able to control the number of foreigners receiving permanent residency.

To hear more opinions on the issue, the ministry will hold a public hearing on the amendments on March 8.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Immigration relaxed regulations to extend the period of time Chinese high-tech professionals can stay in Taiwan from three years to six and allowing their families move to Taiwan more easily.