The Ministry of Labor yesterday launched a program to provide a pathway to permanent residency for migrant workers, and foreign and “overseas compatriot” students who earn an associate degree in Taiwan.
The program focuses on the long-term retention of students and migrant workers employed in manufacturing, construction, fisheries, caregiving and agriculture, the ministry said.
Migrant workers employed in one of those fields for six years are eligible to be reclassified as “mid-level skilled workers,” which their employer can apply for them and can be renewed every three years without limit, the ministry said.
After working as a “mid-level skilled worker” for five years while meeting the minimum wage requirement, they can apply for permanent residency, in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法), it said.
For migrant workers employed in the manufacturing, construction, agriculture and fishing industries, the minimum wage requirement for application eligibility is NT$33,000 per month, the ministry said.
Caregivers at institutions would be required to make at least NT$29,000 per month, while those working in private homes would have to show that they make NT$24,000 per month, it said.
The income requirement has faced criticism, especially from caregivers working in private homes, who say their average monthly salary is only about NT$17,000.
A total of 659,382 migrant workers, mainly from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, were working in Taiwan at the end of March, but only about 208,351 were eligible to apply for the program, ministry data showed.
For foreign and overseas compatriot students who graduate from a Taiwanese college with an associate degree, they can be immediately classified as “intermediate-skilled labor” at their job, but must earn a minimum of NT$30,000 per month to qualify for permanent residency, it said.
The program seeks to retain at least 80,000 migrant workers, and 80,000 foreign and overseas compatriot students by 2030, the Executive Yuan said in a statement.
Overseas compatriot students refer to people of Chinese ethnicity who were born and lived overseas, or to Taiwanese nationals who had resided overseas for more than six consecutive years until their return to Taiwan for studies.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS