TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Legislative Yuan Monday (June 17) gave preliminary approval to an amendment that will make permanent foreign residents eligible for select disability benefits and long-term care services, but failed to reach a consensus on whether academic degrees could be used to offset the minimum residency requirement.
A joint meeting of three Legislative Yuan committees reviewed the amendment to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法), reported Liberty Times. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that although foreign permanent residents are not legally entitled to social welfare services, considering they are recruited by Taiwan and may have long-term development prospects in the nation, the proposal to amend the law was put forward.
Wang said the amendment aims to create a “foreigner-friendly living environment,” while ensuring the effective use of Taiwan's social welfare resources. The amendment stipulates that those who meet the conditions of having legally resided in Taiwan for a cumulative period of 10 years and have lived in the country for more than 183 days each year will be eligible to apply for long-term care services and subsidies following the provisions of Articles 50 and 51 of the People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act (身心障礙者權益保障法).
One sticking point was the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals currently says the time spent studying or staying with relatives will not be counted into the 10-year residence period. DPP Legislators Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), Loh Mei-ling (羅美玲), and Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) proposed amending Article 14 of the act to allow a specific proportion of the time spent studying to count toward their consecutive years of residency.
However, some legislators expressed concern that this amendment lowers the threshold for the employment of foreigners at the expense of Taiwanese. KMT Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝衣鳯) suggested that the National Development Council consider how it would affect the employment of Taiwanese, while KMT Legislator Sra Kacaw (鄭天財) argued that the amendment would affect the rights and interests of Indigenous people.
Chiu emphasized that the amendment would only relax the minimum residency requirement and is unrelated to the domestic job market. However, no consensus was reached.
Consequently, Chiu announced that Article 14 would be reserved for party caucus negotiations, while the remaining articles of the proposed amendment were passed.