The Ministry of Labor on Wednesday last week officially opened a service center dedicated to the retention of skilled migrant workers, providing a one-stop service that enables the speedy processing of administrative paperwork for employers, employees and labor brokers.
The center in Hsinchu County — which together with neighboring Taoyuan has the largest number of migrant workers — also provides in-person workplace consultations, as well as one-on-one counter and telephone services, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said.
The center would assign one staff member to each employer who has hired a certain number of experienced migrant workers and wishes to apply to extend their employment or upgrade their status, to better track their progress, Hsu said.
Photo: CNA
The establishment of the Long-term Retention of Migrant Workers Service Center supports the government’s policy of retaining migrant workers employed in the manufacturing, construction, fisheries, long-term care and agricultural sectors where there is a shortage of labor, the ministry said.
The ministry in April last year introduced a pathway to permanent residency in Taiwan for migrant workers who are eligible for reclassification as “intermediate skilled workers,” if they have been employed in a designated field for six years or more and meet certain wage qualifications.
For migrant workers in the manufacturing, construction, agriculture and fishing industries, the minimum wage for application eligibility is NT$33,000 per month, the ministry said.
Institutional care workers are required to earn an income of at least NT$29,000 per month, while live-in care workers must have minimum monthly pay of NT$24,000, it said.
Upon approval of their reclassification, which can be renewed every three years without limit, migrant workers are eligible to apply for permanent residency after having worked for five years at that level in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法), it added.
As of the end of last month the long-term retention program had continued the employment or upgraded the status of 21,351 migrant workers — 8,447 in the manufacturing sector and 12,894 in the long-term care sector — which was higher than expected, Hsu said.
The ministry is seeking to upgrade a minimum of 20,000 intermediate skilled migrant workers each year, she said.
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