A closer inspection of immigration laws shows that Chinese spouses do not have to give up their nationality to obtain citizenship, an obstacle that spouses of other nationalities face.
The Nationality Act (國籍法) and Immigration Act (入出國及移民法) state that if foreign spouses do not wish to become a citizen and only wish to obtain permanent residency, they must reside in Taiwan for five years consecutively and must spend more than 183 days a year in the nation.
The regulations stipulate that foreign spouses may also obtain permanent residency if they reside within the nation by legal means for more than 10 years, with more than 183 days spent in Taiwan per year for five out of 10 years.
However, according to the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), Chinese spouses need only reside in Taiwan for four years, with more than 183 days of each year spent within the nation, to gain permanent residency.
In addition, if non-Chinese foreign spouses wish to become a Republic of China (ROC) citizen, they must first renounce their original nationality after they have resided within the nation for more than three years and spent more than 183 days a year in Taiwan.
They must also take a test on the basic rights and duties of a citizen before they can obtain citizenship.
After non-Chinese foreign spouses receive citizenship, they must continue to stay in Taiwan for one full year, reside in Taiwan for two full years with 270 days of each year spent in Taiwan or stay in Taiwan for five full years with 183 days spent in Taiwan each year before they may settle and register their residence with local household registration office and receive their ROC identification card.
However, such rules do not apply to Chinese spouses.
After they gain permanent residency, Chinese spouses need only stay two full years, with 183 days spent each year within Taiwan, to gain citizenship, register their residence with local household registration office and gain their ROC identification card.
They also are not required to renounce their People’s Republic of China citizenship.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow