How to Get Permanent Residency in Taiwan

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about getting Permanent Residency in Taiwan so I decided to make a post about it instead of answering them individually.

A foreigner can get residency in Taiwan by either working, studying or getting married.  There are also other options like a Gold Card but this is not the path that I went down so I don’t have the latest information.

In this post I’m going to cover Permanent Residency that you can get while working in Taiwan. 

Once you get residency you’ll be issued an ARC (Alien Resident Certificate) and once you have this for 5 years, you can apply to get your Permanent ARC or APRC.

The main requirement is that your salary is double the minimum wage for your last 12 months of working.  This changes periodically but is about 52,000 NTD/month ($1630.00 USD).   The easiest way to do this is to teach English or work for a Taiwanese company for 5 years.  It also doesn’t need to all be for the same company, you just need to make sure that your ARC is valid the entire time.  Usually if you change jobs you’ll be able to apply for a 6 month grace period while looking for a new job.

The Other Option is to Open a Representative’s Office in Taiwan

I had a business exporting Taiwanese products to the US and this is what I did.  You will need an LLC or Corporation to act as the main office (mine was in the US) and the total set up cost was about $1500.00 USD with a yearly fee of about $100 USD and a work permit renewal fee of $250.00 USD.  Work permit validity ranges from 1-3 years so if you’re lucky you’ll only have to pay this once.

You will declare a salary (that you choose) and pay taxes on this salary.  For example, you could give yourself a monthly salary of 51,000 NTD/month and you would pay about 5% tax on it (generally at the end of the year).

How to Open a Taiwan Representative/Branch Office

1. Notarize documents by Taiwan Embassy or TECO office in the country where your business is registered
2. Submit documents
3. Find office *if you use your home you need your landlord to sign a letter. This will increase their tax burden and they might pass that on to you. Virtual offices are also available
4. Apply for the work permit
5. Once work permit is approved, change visa from landing visa to visitor visa (5760 NTD)
6. Use visitor visa to apply for ARC
7. Apply For Health Insurance
8. Yearly Renewal Documents