New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday.
Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said.
In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit.
Photo: CNA
Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company sponsor their work permit to work legally in Taiwan.
Also, in a measure intended to help "fast track" permanent residency, foreign nationals who obtained an undergraduate, masters or postgraduate degree in Taiwan can deduct one, two or three years respectively from the five-year working residency requirement.
Moreover, "foreign specialist professionals" — referring to non-Taiwanese who meet certain income-level or work experience criteria — can choose to apply for permanent residence after just one year in Taiwan in some cases.
Spouses of foreign specialist professionals can now also apply to work freely in Taiwan, instead of having to apply for an employer-backed work permit.
Other changes include improving access for foreign professionals to Taiwan’s pension and employment insurance systems.
Foreign professionals who do not possess permanent residence in Taiwan would be able to join the nation's new labor pension system, while foreign permanent residents would be able to enroll in Taiwan’s employment insurance system.
Access for foreign professionals to disability and long-term care services for the first time is also due to be implemented on June 30, although they would only be available to foreign permanent residents who have been resident in the country for 10 years.
The new measures, enshrined in amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) that were passed last year, were explained by officials from the council and other agencies at a media event in Taipei yesterday.
Speaking at the event, council Deputy Minister Jan Fang-guan (詹方冠) said Taiwan has "provided foreign nationals with more convenient options" in visas, residency, work and tax breaks since the act was first implemented in February 2018.
As a result, the number of foreign professionals in Taiwan has "increased significantly" from about 30,000 to "nearly 80,000," he said.
"Basically covering a foreign professional’s career development, family life and retirement in Taiwan," the amendments seek to ensure "foreign professional talent in Taiwan have a pleasant work environment and happy life," Jan said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS