Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts.
To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said.
Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in the same period.
Photo: CNA
Applicants must also provide “proof of bank deposits” averaging at least US$10,000 for the previous six-month period as well as “proof of health and full hospitalization insurance for the entire duration of stay,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Only nationals from the ministry’s list of visa-exempt countries are eligible for the new visa, which includes citizens of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK, the US and several EU countries, including France and Germany.
Applicants must also provide a “personal resume or portfolio, including academic background and work experience,” a valid work contract from an employer or contracts for current freelance projects, and complete a “description of intended activities” form.
The new visa was launched on Wednesday last week by the National Development Council (NDC) in conjunction with the ministry, apparently in an attempt to attract financially independent foreign nationals to spend overseas-earned money in Taiwan.
The NDC in July last year said that it hoped to attract 100,000 “digital nomads” — referring to people who work remotely, sometimes for a company in one country while living in another.
However, nearly a week after applications were first opened, neither the NDC nor the ministry announced or promoted the new visa category on their Web sites in any language.
It is also unclear how the digital nomad visitor visa might differ practically from other visitor visas already offered to people from countries on the ministry’s visa-exemption list, except for offering a longer stay of up to six months.
Foreign nationals from the majority of Taiwan’s visa-exempt countries can already visit Taiwan for 90 days without providing proof of income, while British and Canadian nationals can extend their three-month stay to six months in total, the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Web site says.
‘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
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s