Revised regulations on work, residency and tax concessions designed to attract foreign professionals to live and work in Taiwan took effect on Monday, the National Development Council (NDC) has said.
The amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法), which the Legislative Yuan passed in June, expand the professions eligible for the incentives.
Beyond the eight professional fields covered in the original act, the amendment includes national defense and other fields identified by the authorities, with added occupations including teachers of foreign professionals’ children and teachers of experimental education.
In terms of benefits for foreign nationals, the revised act still requires professionals seeking employment in Taiwan to have a master’s degree or above in a specialized or technical field, or to have graduated from a top university, but no longer requires two years of work experience prior to entering Taiwan, except where restricted by law.
Under the revised law, the time that foreign professionals must work in Taiwan before being eligible to apply for permanent residency is shortened from five years to three. The period can be further reduced if a person spends one to two years in Taiwan studying for a master’s or a doctoral degree.
In terms of optimizing social protections and tax concessions, the revised law extends the tax deduction period for foreign specialists from three years to five.
The amendment also allows professionals who are employers or business owners, as well as their dependents, to be immediately covered by the National Health Insurance system, waiving the typical six-month waiting period.
Information related to the act, its sublaws and complementary measures are available at foreigntalentact.ndc.gov.tw and goldcard.nat.gov.tw.
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