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 (
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 (
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.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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