More than 200 people with high-level expertise in the digital industry last year secured the Employment Gold Card, with about 60 percent working in software development jobs, data from National Development Council and Administration for Digital Industries showed.
Launched in 2018, the card combines the functions of a resident visa, work permit, Alien Resident Certificate and re-entry permit, and allows foreign professionals to leave and re-enter Taiwan multiple times over the course of one to three years.
Foreigners are eligible to apply for gold cards if they have expertise in science, technology, economy, education, culture, arts, sports, finance, law, architecture, national defense or digital industries.
Photo courtesy of the National Development Council
The qualifications of foreign professionals would be assessed by government officials regulating these industries, and applicants are not required to receive job offers to apply for gold cards.
Those who do not have expertise in the listed categories might still be qualified for gold cards as special cases, depending on the National Development Council consultation with government officials. Foreign professionals with specialized knowledge and skills in digital industries were not qualified for employment gold cards until the middle of last year.
Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: having at least eight years of relevant professional experience in digital economy-related industries, having held positions in a digital economy-related industry in Taiwan or other countries with a most recent monthly salary of at least NT$160,000, or having graduated with a doctorate from one of the top 500 universities listed in the most recent QS World University Rankings, Times Higher Education World University Rankings or US News and World Report Rankings.
Meanwhile, those with expertise in the products or services required in the digital economy-related industries can also apply if they have obtained a doctoral degree in related fields at a domestic or foreign university, and if they received domestic or foreign awards recognized by the Ministry of Digital Affairs, or had more than four years of work experience in related fields.
As of December last year, 216 foreigners secured employment gold cards because of high-level expertise in the digital industry, which accounted for 2.4 percent of the gold cards issued since 2018.
The Administration for Digital Ministries of the Ministry of Digital Affairs is in charge of reviewing gold card applicants working in the digital industry. As of January, the administration had received 420 applications, 298 of which met the requirement for a gold card, administration data showed.
The expertise of the applicants varies from software development, computer programming, e-commerce and video gaming to cybersecurity, the administration said, adding that about 60 percent of applicants are working in software development-related fields.
Applicants who secured gold cards are mainly developers of software, digital content and video games, the administration added.
Seventy percent of the applicants from the digital industries are 39 years of age or younger, the administration said.
Aside from Employment Gold Cards, the administration is offering subsidies on flight tickets as incentives to attract talent in the digital economy field, it said, adding that the application deadline for subsidies is the end of October.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS