Many professional workers from Hong Kong and Macau are to be able to apply for permanent residence starting on May 1, after new criteria received Cabinet approval, an official said.
Under the new regulations, professionals from the territories who have resided in Taiwan for at least five years with a work visa, and earned at least double the minimum wage in the past year, can apply for permanent residency as of next month, an official said ahead of an expected formal announcement next month.
The applicant must also have been present in Taiwan for at least 183 days in each of the five years.
Photo: Tyrone Siu , Reuters
Not all people engaged in professional work from the territories are currently able to obtain permanent residency in Taiwan under the Regulations Governing Residency or Permanent Residency for People of the Hong Kong Area and the Macau Area (香港澳門居民進入臺灣地區及居留定居許可辦法).
The amendment was drafted to comply with changes to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法), promulgated in July last year, which specifies that professionals from Hong Kong and Macau should be included.
A “professional” is defined as someone who has been issued a work permit or employment gold card by the Ministry of Labor or other authority.
It also includes “specialized or technical” positions such as civil engineers, financial and real-estate brokers, and veterinarians.
The changes would also allow professionals and their households to apply for two six-month-long “jobseeking” residency extensions, the official said.
Under the current law, professionals from the territories are required to leave the country when their contracts end.
Those who obtain a master’s or doctorate degree in Taiwan could have their waiting time reduced by one and two years respectively, the same as allowed under the new criteria of the foreign talent act, the official said.
Regarding concerns that the changes could reduce opportunities for local talent or create a loophole for Chinese infiltration, the official said that the rules require a five-year observation period, while a national security review mechanism would be implemented.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS