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The Taiwan Employment Gold Card, Filed by the Applicant
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The Taiwan Employment Gold Card, Filed by the Applicant

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You may want to work in Taiwan without waiting for an employer to file for you. You can apply directly to the National Immigration Agency for an Employment Gold Card. Eligibility is assessed against the government's published criteria for the relevant professional field.

The salary-tax concession is a separate rule with its own conditions. Getting the card does not, by itself, reduce your tax.

What does the card include?

Article 9 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals says a foreign specialist professional who intends to do professional work in Taiwan may apply directly to the National Immigration Agency for an Employment Gold Card. The card combines a work permit, a resident visa, an Alien Resident Certificate, and a re-entry permit. Before issuing the card, the Agency reviews the application together with the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Someone already in Taiwan need not apply for the resident-visa piece.

Article 4 defines that professional as a foreign professional with specific expertise Taiwan needs, in a field a responsible ministry has announced, or a person the competent authority recognizes in consultation with those ministries. "Professional work" is a defined list in the same article.

The Gold Card office's about page calls this an open work permit: the applicant need not already be hired, and an employer does not file the card. Where a field page asks for a contract or a record of past work, that paper proves the field.

The office's application page limits filing to a foreign passport, or a Republic of China passport without household registration. The page says nationals with household registration or a national ID card are not eligible to apply. An applicant without household registration who applies from inside Taiwan must have entered on the foreign passport. The page says collection is at a National Immigration Agency service center in Taiwan, within 30 days of entry for someone coming from abroad. Re-read it before you travel. A short stay does not pause while the card is pending, and can require re-entry.

Which professional field should you apply under?

The qualification page sorts applications into field pages: science and technology, economy, education, culture and arts, sport, finance, law, architecture, national defense, digital, biotechnology, and environment. The about page adds special cases the National Development Council recognizes after consultation. The list tracks Article 4.

Each field page sets its own routes and documents. Routes use a salary level, a senior role, years in an industry, a degree, an award, or recognition by the responsible authority. The numbers differ by field, so they stay on that page. Apart from architecture, the qualification page says an application uses one field and one regulation. The application page warns that changing the field after submission slows the review.

How long does the card last, and which extension is which?

Article 9 sets validity at one to three years. A holder who meets the conditions in the rules may apply to extend before expiry, each time for up to three years. Those conditions are in the rules under Article 9 and in the office's instructions.

The office's extension FAQ puts the online card extension in a window that opens four months before the date on the card and closes inside the final month. A portal window can move, so use the live page. The documents for that filing are on the office's extension-documents FAQ.

Article 17 is a different application, for when the card is ending and residence is still needed. The holder, and a spouse, minor child, or adult child who cannot live independently because of a disability, if that relative already has permission to reside, may ask the Agency to extend residence. Approval issues an Alien Resident Certificate for six months from the day after the card expires. One further extension may be requested. The total is at most one year. The office's FAQ calls this a job-seeking ARC and states that work is not permitted on it. Article 17 does not renew the four-in-one card for another one to three years.

What can family members apply for?

Article 16, paragraph 2 covers a spouse, a minor child, and an adult child who cannot live independently because of a disability. If the specialist professional has permission to reside or to reside permanently, and the relative enters visa-free or on a visitor visa, the relative may apply to the Agency and, if approved, receives an Alien Resident Certificate. The about page says, more briefly, that a spouse and children may apply for dependent residence. For an adult child, the statute's condition is the one to use.

Article 20 lets lineal ascendants of a residing specialist or senior professional apply for a multiple-entry visitor visa: one-year validity, a stay of six months, extendable, with each stay capped at one year in the first paragraph and a medical-insurance condition if the stay runs longer. The about page defines lineal ascendants as the parents and grandparents of the applicant and of the spouse.

When can a cardholder apply for permanent residence?

Article 18 is the permanent-residence article. The ordinary route for a foreign professional is five continuous years of lawful residence at an average of 183 days a year, with further conditions in the first paragraph. A specialist professional residing on a gold card who meets those conditions can use the shorter periods in paragraph 3: three continuous years at that average, or one year with 183 days if the person also meets conditions the Ministry of the Interior announces. The about page's three-year sentence excludes Hong Kong and Macao residents. Their entry and stay follow Article 30, and Article 18 is not in the list of articles that provision applies by analogy. Day counts and degree offsets are in Taiwan permanent residence.

When does the salary tax relief apply?

Article 22, from the 2018 tax year, is the concession: half of the salary above NT$3 million, for five tax years starting with the first year the person both resides 183 days and crosses that salary, in each such year of 183 days' residence. Article 12, paragraph 1, subparagraph 1 of the Income Basic Tax Act (所得基本稅額條例) does not apply. One branch is employment in professional work during the gold card's validity. Article 20 is the parents' visitor visa. The office's English FAQ still names Article 20. The Chinese FAQ uses Article 22 and, in its reading list, still points at Article 20. The 183-day income-tax count is explained in Taiwan income-tax residency.

The regulation fills in Article 22. For a gold-card holder, Article 3, paragraph 2 requires that the first residence approval was for work, that the person does professional work related to the recognized expertise, and that in the five years before the card was issued the person had no household registration and was not an income-tax resident. An earlier Taiwan residence permit held for a reason other than professional work, such as study or non-professional employment, does not count against the "first residence for work" condition. If you earned an associate degree or higher in Taiwan, your study period and any residence-extension period after graduation under Article 12 of the Act are left out when checking whether you were a Taiwan tax resident (Article 3, paragraph 5 of the regulation). The concession then covers employment in that work during the card's validity.

Article 4 starts the five years in the first tax year both tests are met. Salary here is taxable salary for that professional work, from an employer in Taiwan or abroad. A change of employer inside the five years is allowed if the work still matches the expertise. Article 5 says the claim goes in with the annual return, in the prescribed form, before that year's filing deadline, with the card and proof of the employment. Miss that window and the year does not qualify. If the card arrives late for a reason that is not the person's fault, there is one month from receipt. Article 7 applies the same regulation to Hong Kong and Macao residents who use Article 22 through Article 30. That covers tax only, not the residence period for permanent residence.

What to put in the first email

This maps the Act, the regulation, and the Gold Card office's pages. It does not predict an approval.

Write to Attorney Wei Tseng (曾雋崴) at Hovering International Law Firm. She will need your nationalities and passports, including any Republic of China passport and whether you have household registration. Say whether you are inside or outside Taiwan, what stay you are on, and when it ends. Name the field and the evidence you already have. Say who would come with you, and whether the salary concession is part of the question.

Email wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw. The office is at 7F-2, No. 35, Sec. 1, Chengde Rd., Datong Dist., Taipei City 103, Taiwan (103 臺北市大同區承德路一段35號7樓之2). Ask how to send passport copies.

Official sources

Checked: September 29, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a job offer before I apply for an Employment Gold Card?
Article 9 lets a foreign specialist professional apply to the National Immigration Agency for the card. The Gold Card office states that qualification is an assessment of professional skills and that a job need not already be secured. The field page you file under still sets the documents, and some routes on those pages ask for employment records or a contract.
Does the card itself cover my spouse and children?
The four-in-one card is issued to the applicant. A spouse, a minor child, and an adult child who cannot live independently because of a disability may apply for their own residence if they enter visa-free or on a visitor visa. Lineal ascendants use the visitor-visa rule in Article 20.
Does holding the card halve my income tax?
The salary concession is Article 22, plus the Ministry of Finance regulation. It applies only if separate conditions are met, including employment in the recognized work during the card's validity, a 183-day year, and salary above NT$3 million. It is not the test for receiving the card. Some official FAQ pages still name Article 20, which is the visitor-visa article.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice on any individual matter.

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