Taiwan · Talent & extraordinary ability
Employment Gold Card
Open since February 2018 and stable. As at 28 February 2026 there were 8,372 valid Gold Cards in circulation, from 15,924 approved cumulatively.
The Gold Card is remarkable value: for about USD 100–300 and no job offer you get a combined work permit, resident visa, ARC and re-entry permit valid one to three years, with an open work right and the ability to found companies. The NTD 160,000 salary test is met by a very large share of Western professionals, and the tax break on top is genuine.
Qualifying routes
Average monthly salary of at least NTD 160,000 pre-tax (roughly USD 5,000/month, USD 60k/year) in any one year within the three years preceding application, evidenced by a foreign annual tax statement
Twelve recognised fields — science and technology, economy, education, culture and arts, sport, finance, law, architecture and national defence among them — each with field-specific criteria assessed by the relevant ministry, plus a catch-all special-expertise category
The facts
- Qualifying figure
- 160k TWD
- Total landed cost
- Roughly USD 100–310 in government fees depending on validity chosen and whether applying from abroad; no investment required
- Timeline
- 1–3 months — Typically 30–60 days; applications are made online
- Physical presence
- None to hold the card. Permanent residency requires 183+ days per year for five consecutive years.
- Family
- spouseminor childrendependent parents in defined circumstances
- Permanent residency
- APRC after 5 consecutive years with 183+ days per year — reduced to 3 years for Foreign Special Professionals who hold a Gold Card, with the same 183-day condition
- Citizenship
- possible after 5 years of continuous residence, but requires renouncing your existing citizenship — see watchOuts
- Language test
- basic Mandarin and civics testing applies to naturalisation
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted — you would have to renounce
- Requirements
- Qualify in one of twelve recognised professional fields, or under the special-expertise catch-allEconomy field salary route: average monthly salary of NTD 160,000+ pre-tax in one of the last three years, evidenced by an annual tax statementNo job offer or sponsor requiredClean record
- The salary test is assessed on a foreign ANNUAL TAX STATEMENT divided by twelve — a W-2, P60, T4 or equivalent. Self-employment income, dividends, distributions and unevidenced consulting fees frequently fail. This is the single most common rejection cause.
- The 50% tax reduction applies only to salary income above NTD 3m and only for the first five years in which you are a tax resident — and it requires that you had no Taiwan residency in the preceding five years. It does not shelter investment income.
- Overseas income is not in the ordinary tax base but the Alternative Minimum Tax can reach it above the threshold once the five-year Gold Card AMT exemption expires. Model year six.
- The APRC requires 183+ days per year for the qualifying period. Anyone treating the Gold Card as a paper residence will never convert it to permanence.
- Naturalisation requires renunciation of your existing citizenship in most cases — and Taiwan requires you to renounce BEFORE the ROC citizenship is granted, creating a statelessness window. Very few foreigners take this route.
- Geopolitical risk is the elephant. It is not a reason to avoid Taiwan for a three-year card, but it is a reason not to concentrate family assets or a primary residence plan there.