A bill that would shorten the time required for foreign high-level professionals to apply for naturalization passed committee at the legislature on Wednesday.
The amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) passed the Internal Administration Committee after hearing reports from the Ministry of the Interior.
According to the proposal, fierce international competition for talent requires Taiwan to relax its regulations on immigration.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Under current law, “high-level professionals” invited by the ministry are able to apply for citizenship without giving up their current nationality.
They must have resided in Taiwan for at least 183 days annually for three consecutive years.
Under the changes, the requirement would be shortened to two years, or with legal residence in Taiwan for at least five years if the applicant does not meet the 183-day requirement.
Special or stateless applicants would also be exempted from the fee when applying for naturalization.
The changes also include a provision that would allow social welfare agencies to apply for naturalization on behalf of stateless children who are residents.
The category of “high-level professionals” includes athletes, Department of Household Registration Acting Director Chen Tzu-ho (陳子和) said in response to a question whether they would be included in the category, after the ministry earlier said that the changes would aid Taiwan’s efforts to recruit foreign basketball players to play for the national team.
The Cabinet approved the changes on Feb. 29, sending them to the legislature for deliberation.
They had been approved by the Cabinet in September last year, but had to be resubmitted because of the new legislative term that began on Feb. 1.
The amendments have been finalized and do not require cross-party negotiations before they are deliberated by the full chamber, committee chair Legislator Wu Chi-ming (吳琪銘) said.
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