The Cabinet yesterday approved draft amendments to the Nationality Act (國籍法) to ease residency requirements for some foreign professionals applying for naturalization and to allow social welfare agencies to apply for naturalization on behalf of stateless children who are residents.
The proposed amendments were approved by the Cabinet in September last year, but had to be reapproved and resubmitted because of the new legislative term that began on Feb. 1.
The Ministry of the Interior said that the draft amendments would help improve the retention of professional talent by cutting the required period of residency for “foreign high-level professionals” (外國高級專業人才) applying for citizenship from three continuous years, defined as being in the country for at least 183 days each year.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The required period of residency would be shortened to two continuous years, or a legal stay of more than five consecutive years for those who do not meet the 183 days per year requirement, the ministry said.
It has previously said that the changes would aid Taiwan’s efforts to recruit and naturalize foreign basketball players to play for the national team, a change that the national basketball association has sought.
To better protect children’s rights, the draft amendments include a new provision that allows social welfare authorities or institutions that act as guardians of stateless children to apply for Republic of China (ROC) nationality on their behalf, the ministry said.
Under the existing law, only adoptive parents of stateless people who are unmarried minors can apply for naturalization on their behalf, if at least one of the parents is an ROC citizen, the ministry said.
In addition, as Taiwan has amended its Civil Code to lower the legal age of majority from 20 to 18, the draft also changes the wording “unmarried minors” in the Nationality Act to “unmarried and under the age of 18.”
Taiwan, which accounts for more than half of the global outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing market, is well-positioned to develop copackaged optics (CPO) and manufacture precision silicon photonics chips, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Silicon photonics are emerging as a mainstream optical communications technology and is seen as key to overcoming bottlenecks in AI computing power. The technology is a key project under the government’s New 10 Major AI Infrastructure Projects, with industry, government, academia and research institutions working to overcome critical technological hurdles and build a self-reliant silicon photonics supply chain, the ministry said. Nvidia Corp in March invested US$4
The air force plans to build 26 more hardened aircraft shelters as the number of F-16Vs stationed along Taiwan’s east coast is expected to reach 120 when the final shipment of 66 jets procured from the US arrives. The incoming jets would be stationed at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County, augmenting the F-16V Block 20s operated by the 5th Tactical Fighter Wing in Hualien County, officials said yesterday. The air force plans to allocate more than NT$6.88 billion (US$218.1 million) from next year to 2031 to build the shelters in Hualien and Taitung as part of the implementation of a “one
Palau’s president yesterday called for a “unified” Pacific response to a missile test by China in July, while Taiwan and its Pacific allies a day earlier at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) reaffirmed their commitment to peace, stability and prosperity. China gave only a handful of nations short notice before test-firing an intercontinental ballistic missile in July, sparking condemnation from several Pacific leaders. The 18-member PIF being held in Palau was expected to release a communique after press time last night, with a formal response to the test possibly included. Palau, which invited Taiwan to attend sideline events as an aid partner, urged
China’s continued efforts to inject geopolitical rivalry into the region and disrupt Pacific nations’ discussions of regional issues warrant greater international attention, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) last week led a delegation to diplomatic ally Palau to attend events related to the 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) summit. However, the absence of some member-state leaders has been interpreted by some people as a sign of fracturing in Pacific unity. Thirteen PIF members were represented by their heads of state or government, while Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Samoa sent ministerial-level representatives, a diplomatic official
RSS