TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Amendments to the Foreign Professionals Act that expand graduate work exemptions, extend digital nomad visa durations, ease permanent residency requirements, and improve labor and social protections took effect on Jan. 1, as Taiwan seeks to attract more international talent.
The revised law exempts graduates of the world’s top 1,500 universities from the two-year work experience requirement, per Talent Taiwan. University graduates ranked in the world’s top 200 within the past five years can directly apply to the Ministry of Labor for up to two years of work authorization.
Foreign professionals who earn degrees in Taiwan can count those years toward residency: three years for a doctorate, two for a master’s, and one for a bachelor’s or associate degree. “Foreign specialist professionals” — individuals with expertise in select fields who meet certain criteria, such as earning NT$6 million (US$198,000) annually or obtaining a PhD in Taiwan — may qualify for permanent residency after one year.
Foreign students who graduate in Taiwan will be exempt from needing a work permit while job hunting and can extend their residency for up to two years during their search. Spouses of foreign senior professionals or foreign specialist professionals can apply directly for work permits during their dependent residency period.
The digital nomad visa has been extended from six months to two years. The visa enables foreign professionals who work remotely, without being employed by or providing services to a business entity in Taiwan, to stay in the country.
Foreign professionals with permanent residency are eligible for employment insurance, covering unemployment benefits, vocational training allowances, and parental leave pay. Foreign professionals no longer need permanent residency to be eligible to join Taiwan’s labor pension system, and employers contribute 6% to a portable pension account.
Foreign professionals with permanent residency who have lived in Taiwan for more than 10 years and are 65 or older, or who have a disability, will have full access to long-term care and disability services.
