When Can You Apply for Permanent Residence (APRC) in Taiwan? General, Spouse and Professional Routes

If you have lived in Taiwan on an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) for several years, sooner or later you will ask whether you can switch to permanent residence. An Alien Permanent Resident Certificate (APRC) ends the cycle of ARC renewals, but the qualifying period has to be counted exactly as the law says. Five years on paper is not always five qualifying years, because some kinds of residence do not count.

This column compares the routes under the Immigration Act and the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals. Getting an ARC in the first place is covered in residence as the foreign spouse of a Taiwanese national and Taiwan's Employment Gold Card.

What is the general five-year route?

Article 25 of the Immigration Act, paragraph 1, lets a foreigner who has resided lawfully in Taiwan for five continuous years, living here at least 183 days each year, apply to the National Immigration Agency if they meet four conditions:

1. aged 18 or over;
2. no record of bad conduct and no criminal record on a police criminal record certificate;
3. sufficient assets or skills to be self-supporting;
4. consistent with Taiwan's national interest.

Some residence does not count toward the five years. The proviso to the same paragraph excludes residence for study; residence under Article 23(1)(3) and Article 26(1)–(2); residence allowed to continue under Article 31(4)(5)–(8) (for example a pending labour dispute, treatment for an occupational injury, or acting as a witness in a criminal case); work as a migrant worker under Article 46(1)(8)–(10) of the Employment Service Act; and residence as a dependant of any of these.

Timing rules apply too. You must apply within two years after completing the required residence period. A foreigner who also holds Republic of China nationality cannot apply. And the agency may refuse if you are properly notified of an interview and fail to attend without good reason.

When can spouses and children of Taiwanese nationals apply?

The same paragraph adds an alternative, joined to the five-year route by "or", for the foreign spouse or child of a national with Taiwan household registration: at least 10 years of lawful residence, including 5 years with at least 183 days of residence each year, is also enough to apply. A spouse does not need to show assets or skills to be self-supporting. How to obtain and keep a spouse ARC is explained in residence as the foreign spouse of a Taiwanese national.

Are the periods shorter for professionals and Gold Card holders?

Foreigners working in professional roles can use Article 18 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals:

• Foreign professionals: five years of continuous lawful residence, living in Taiwan an average of at least 183 days a year. The Immigration Act route needs 183 days in each year. The other conditions are the same: adulthood, good conduct, self-support and national interest.
• Foreign special professionals: if you resided in Taiwan on a special-professional work permit or an Employment Gold Card, three years of continuous lawful residence at an average of 183 days a year is enough. If you meet conditions announced by the Ministry of the Interior, one year of lawful residence with at least 183 days of residence is enough.
• Degrees earned in Taiwan: a degree from a Taiwan university or college shortens the period. For professionals, a doctorate counts as three years, a master's as two, and a bachelor's or associate degree as one. For special professionals, a doctorate counts as two years and a master's as one. Degrees cannot be combined.

The two-year application window after qualifying applies here too.

The Immigration Agency's APRC application guidance lists documents by applicant type. Employment-based applicants normally submit a work permit valid for more than six months and a certificate of employment issued within one month. Job seekers without an employer and Gold Card holders are exempt from those two documents, although job seekers must explain their job search and how they support themselves. The same guidance says a home-country police criminal record certificate is valid for one year from issue, and a Taiwan one for three months.

How do family members get permanent residence?

Under Article 19 of the same Act, once a foreign professional has an APRC, their spouse, minor children and adult children unable to live independently because of a disability can apply after five years of continuous lawful residence at an average of 183 days a year. They need no bad conduct and no criminal-case record on a police criminal record certificate, and the application must be consistent with the national interest. They do not have to meet the age or self-support conditions. For families of special professionals, the period is three years or one year, depending on the route by which the principal obtained the APRC.

Article 25, paragraphs 3 and 4, also allow an application without the paragraph 1 residence clock by a person who has made a special contribution to Taiwan, a high-level professional Taiwan needs, a person who won first prize in an internationally recognised contest, competition or evaluation in culture, art, science and technology, sport or industry, or a person whose investment immigration was approved and who has actually invested. The spouse, children under 18, and children aged 18 or over who cannot live independently because of a disability may apply together with the principal or after the principal is approved, and the age and self-support conditions do not apply to them. If the principal's permanent residence is revoked or cancelled under Article 33, items 1 to 3 or item 8, the accompanying family's permission goes with it.

What counts as "bad conduct"?

The Standards for Determining No Bad Conduct for Foreigners Applying for Permanent Residence define the test in Article 2. In summary, bad conduct means:

• a deferred prosecution, or a final judgment of detention, a fine or a suspended sentence, for a crime (negligent offences excepted);
• certain Social Order Maintenance Act violations, such as carrying dangerous weapons, where the penalty has not yet been served or paid;
• failure to support a spouse or minor child who holds ROC nationality;
• habitual domestic violence against a relative who holds ROC nationality;
• sexual offences, stalking or similar conduct against children or young people during residence in Taiwan.

Article 3 sets out when you can be treated as having no bad conduct. Examples include a deferred prosecution or suspended sentence that ended without revocation, a fine that has been paid, or detention served more than three years earlier. Under Article 5, 240 hours or more of documented public-interest service for a government body, administrative corporation, community or other public-interest organisation can reduce the three-year periods in Article 3, paragraph 1, items 3, 4 and 6 to two. If anything is on your record, check it against these standards before you apply.

Can an APRC be revoked later?

Article 33 of the Immigration Act lists the grounds for revoking an APRC:

• false or untrue application information;
• use of documents obtained unlawfully, forged or altered;
• a final sentence of one year's imprisonment or more (negligent offences and suspended sentences excepted);
• living in Taiwan fewer than 183 days a year on average over the most recent five years;
• restoring, acquiring or also holding ROC nationality;
• deportation.

The residence ground does not apply if the agency approved your absence for study, medical treatment or another special reason. For professionals, special professionals, senior professionals and qualifying family members covered by Article 21 of the Foreign Professionals Act, a separate rule applies: permanent residence may be revoked after five years or more abroad without re-entry. If you plan to spend long periods abroad after getting an APRC, check this rule first.

Contact

When you email Attorney Wei Tseng (曾雋崴) at Hovering International Law Firm, briefly give your nationality, the date of your first ARC and each basis you have held it on (work, spouse, Gold Card and so on), the number of days you spent in Taiwan each year, any degree earned in Taiwan, and whether you have any criminal or administrative penalty record. She will explain how to send sensitive records. This column is general information; the Immigration Agency decides each application on its documents.

Email: wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw · Address: 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)

Official sources

• Immigration Act, Art. 25, Art. 33
• Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals, Art. 18, Art. 19, Art. 21
• Standards for Determining No Bad Conduct for Foreigners Applying for Permanent Residence, Art. 2, Art. 3, Art. 5
• National Immigration Agency: APRC application guidance

Checked: September 29, 2026