We’ve been living part-time in Taiwan since 2020 and we feel incredibly fortunate we were able to call this place home at that very unique time. In our desire to stay, we were fortunate to have become 3 year residents of Taiwan through the Taiwan Employment Gold Card (see our guide to the Taiwan Gold Card here.) Fast forward three years and I’m now a Taiwan Permanent Resident! Now we want to pass along our learnings and give you the details of applying for permanent residency in Taiwan.
In this detailed application guide, we dive into how we managed to obtain permanent residency (APRC) in Taiwan within just three years, all without the need to work for a Taiwanese company. In return, we received a remarkably flexible residency status that only requires us to spend one day in the country every five years, all while enjoying an exceptional and affordable healthcare system. Not to mention, Taiwan has become one of our top destinations in Asia.
Disclaimer: The information on this blog post is for reference only. Please make sure to double check your own application with your local NIA office. We gather the information from our personal experience as of the summer of 2023 applying for an APRC from holding an Employment Gold Card.
Requirements for Applying for Permanent Residency in Taiwan
When it comes to applying for the Alien Permanent Residency Card (APRC) in Taiwan, there are primarily two pathways to choose from:
Option 1: The first route is the more conventional approach, requiring you to be a resident in Taiwan for five years and engage in employment with a Taiwanese company during that period. An average of 183 days of presence in Taiwan is necessary for each of these five years.
Option 2: The second route is the Employment Gold Card pathway, offering an accelerated process where you are required to be in Taiwan for an average of 183 days during the three year validity of your Gold Card. To qualify, you must either demonstrate that you meet the minimum income requirement or show ownership of assets in Taiwan valued at 5 million NTD (approximately 165,000 USD).
Important: before you can apply for permanent residency, you need to legally get a working visa in Taiwan. You can either do it by getting sponsored by a Taiwanese company or by applying to the Taiwan Gold card. We got our temporary residency through the Gold Card and we wrote extensive guides to help you understand if you can qualify and how to get your started: The Taiwan Employment Gold Card – Part I: Online application & Part II: Spouse application.
Benefits
There are several kinds of APRC available in Taiwan. The application process we are documenting here is the APRC for Gold Card holders, its validity is maintained by entering the country at least every 5 years. This process is quite similar to the standard APRC application process (if you don’t have a Gold Card). Keep in mind that if you are not classified as a Foreign Professional, you will need to stay 183 days per year for you to keep this type of APRC.
Checklist
Once you have met all of the requirement for permanent residency, the first step to your application is to collect the following essential documents / information:
- APRC Application Form
- One Photo ID ( size: 4.5cm X 3.5cm, which is different than the US Passport Photo ID size)
- Evidence confirming your stay in Taiwan for the minimum required duration
- Copies of both your old and current passport ID page + all pages including your entry/exit stamp from Taiwan covering the entirety of your application period
- Copies of your current ARC card (both front and back)
- A Police Criminal Record Certification from Taiwan
- Documentation related to either your income of your proof of asset in Taiwan
- Proof of asset: We sent money from the US to Taiwan to hit the 5 million NTD threshold (~155K USD). To avoid those pesky currency conversion fees (usually ~3%), we sent USD from the US and stashed it in our USD account in our Taiwanese bank. When the bank sends out the statement showing all your cash (TWD + USD), they’ll add it up and convert it to NTD using the latest exchange rate. If you ever need to send money from outside Taiwan to Taiwan, we suggest using a service like Wise (Read: A Reliable & Transparent Money Transfer Service) – it’s a breeze!
- Proof of income: Please share a copy of your most recent tax return. To be eligible, you should have an income that is at least twice the minimum wage.
Important: If you have been outside of Taiwan for more than three months in one single trip, you need to provide some additional documentation:
- Police Criminal Record Certification from the country of the passport you use to apply for your ARC. This document must be authenticated and translated into Chinese if it is not written in English.
- A Health Certificate from Taiwan from designated hospitals in Taiwan
Process if you apply with a US passport:
If you are a USA national, then read the well written FBI Background Check Process by a fellow Gold Card member that covers the entire process.
Process if you apply with a French passport:
- Request your “casier judiciaire” here. This takes just a few minutes to get delievered to you by e-mail.
- Find a translator that is recognized by the Ministry of Foreign Affair (list is here) to translate your document. This person need to have his/her signature legalized (usually by his/her local city hall).
- Send the document to the Ministry of Foreign Affair for them to legalized the signature of the translator
- Send it to the Bureau des Francais a Taipei for them to review
- Received the document at your current location
Note: this process takes about a month so make sure to start it early.
In my case, I was able to find a translator that was able to do step 2-5 for me which saved me time and potentially errors with a process that I was not at all familiar with.
Total Cost of Applying for Permanent Residency in Taiwan
The application fee for the APRC itself is 10,000 NTD (~320 USD). On top of that you need to factor additional cost related to all the documentation you will need to provide.
Here is a rough breakdown:
- ARC Extension for 6 months: You need to apply for your APRC the day after your Gold Card has expired and need to be legally able to stay in the country. You have two options based on your employment status:
- If your are working for a Taiwanese company your employer can apply for a work-permit on your behalf. Cost: FREE
- If you are not working for a Taiwanese company, you can request a 6-month extension for your ARC (Note: this ARC won’t come with a work-permit but will let you seek one). Cost: 1000 NTD. To get this ARC, basically fill-out the same APRC form. Indicate the following:
- Classification: “Change of Residence”
- Application Type: “Other”
- APRC form: free (You can request it as the NIA or print in online here)
- Photocopies of passport(s) and ARC card: 10 NTD (Tip: go to 7-11 as a photocopy cost about 2 NTD for each page in black and white)
- Evidence confirming you stayed an everage of 183 days / year in Taiwan: free (taking care by the NIA when you submit your application).
- Though you can request the document to double check everything yourself before submitting your application by asking for your entry record at the NIA. Cost: 100 NTD
- Police Criminal Record Certificate from Taiwan: 100 NTD
- Health Certificate from Taiwan: 1,000-1,500 NTD (varies depending on the clinic/hospital you go to)
- French Police Criminal Record Certification: Free
- Translation of French Police Criminal Record Certification: ~200 USD (could be cheaper if you handle all separate steps yourself vs having someone to do it all for you)
- Bank certificate for proof of 5M NTD in asset: 100 NTD
Total: ~19,000 NTD (or ~600 USD)
Processing Time
Processing time seems to be between 3-5 weeks based on the NIA office you applied to (it has to be the office from the city on your ID) and external factor such as national holidays and application workload.
Additional Resources
If you are looking for additional information on this topic, we found these resources helpful:
- Instructions on Document Submission by Foreigners Applying for Permanent Residency
- Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office – APRC FAQ
- Foreigners In Taiwan – Taiwan APRC FAQ
Our Bottom Line
Applying for permanent residency in Taiwan does require a number of steps but overall, the APRC application process is quite straightforward and doesn’t necessitate the involvement of a third-party company if you’re familiar with the requirements.
If you meet the qualifications for the Gold Card, you can obtain an APRC in just 3 years. Gold Card holders enjoy an expedited application process (3 years instead of 5) and are eligible for the Foreign Special Professional APRC, which is the most generous option available in Taiwan. This particular APRC only requires you to be in Taiwan for one day every 5 years.
However, the regular APRC is also an excellent choice for those planning to reside in Taiwan. It renews annually as long as you spend at least 183 days per year in the country. The opportunity to have Permanent Residency in Taiwan is a wonderful privilege that will allow you access to this kind, democratic, safe and amazing country.
Interested in other articles about Taiwan? Check out How to Apply for the Employment Gold Card, How to Get a Driver’s License in Taiwan, How to Open a Bank Account in Taiwan, How to Make Healthcare Appointments, Chinese Medicine in Taiwan, 10 Surprising Things You May Not Know About Taiwan, and 3 Day Biking Itinerary on the East Coast of Taiwan.
Have you contemplated applying for permanent residency in Taiwan? Are you aware of the Taiwan APRC and how it compares to your current permanent residency status? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below! We value your input and would love to hear from you. 😊
32 Comments
Kklk · November 6, 2023 at 7:50 am
Hi did u have to produce an income tax return ? If so is it from Taiwan or French or US?
Is 5M NTD sufficient for arpc application?
Mr. Nomad Numbers · November 10, 2023 at 5:12 am
Just proof of 5M NTD 🙂
Klkk · November 6, 2023 at 8:51 am
What I mean was, do we need BOTH 5M NTD assets and income tax return? Or is 5M assets sufficient (without having to pay any income taxes/work in Taiwan for past 3 years?)
Mr. Nomad Numbers · November 6, 2023 at 12:43 pm
Sorry it is either one of them. I’ll make sure the post reflect this correctly.
Kk trine · February 3, 2024 at 3:14 am
Did you rent for 6 months or one full year in TW when you were on gold card? I reckon you need a home address for everything like to open bank account, apply for drivers license, or even to apply for utilities/wifi?
Are landlords open to 6 months rental (with proper rental agreement) or do they need 1 year rental minimum?
Guess you need the rental agreement to lodge your residence address with the local police station and TW immigrations so that the address is reflected on your gold card , right?
Mr. Nomad Numbers · February 4, 2024 at 2:01 am
Hi Kk trine
We started renting one month at a time during our first year as we wanted to explore the country and there were no covid cases during the pandemic as you probably know.
On our second and third years we started doing 3+ months stays in Taipei which gave us greater discounts.
As for ur home address in Taiwan we use the address of a family member so we don’t have to update it everyone we changes location. No specific documentation was requested at that time. Though we provided this information when we applied for the card.
As for the lease you could get 1, 2, 3, 6 months leases. It’s really flexible and based of how much money you want to spend. Though some landlord would prefer payment in cash and not always provide you with a formal lease but rather a written agreement.
I hope this helps!
TJ · February 19, 2024 at 9:55 pm
When you reference the address of a family member, does that mean you have family there in Taiwan? Is that why you chose to pursue a perm visa in that location?
Mr. Nomad Numbers · February 20, 2024 at 7:39 am
Hey TJ,
We’ve been using a distant family member’s address as our permanent one in Taiwan, but that’s not why we decided to pursue permanent residency. We fell in love with Taiwan, especially how it handled the COVID-19 pandemic. The island’s vibrant activities, friendly people, and our growing circle of friends made it feel like home. Plus, the tax benefits and excellent healthcare system are huge advantages compared to what we had in the USA. And these are just a few reasons 🙂
MIN · December 31, 2023 at 9:01 am
Hi Mr.NN
Does spouse of Gold card visa holder will also get the special APRC if that person is applying their own? It is very confusing since TGC mentioned spouse need to stay in Taiwan for 5 consecutive years in order to apply APRC and I wonder if that is regular APRC (6 months stay + annual renew) or same as Gold card applicant’s special APRC (1 day in 5 years). It sounds like spouse and children of Gold card visa holder will have very different requirements and benefits since it is 2 tire system and no idea what to expect.
Thank you so much in advance!
Mr. Nomad Numbers · January 8, 2024 at 4:23 pm
Hello MIN,
Firstly, concerning the spouse visa, it’s important to note that it differs from the Gold Card visa. To retain her APRC, your spouse would typically need to stay in Taiwan for six months every year. However, if you get an APRC after qualifying for the Gold Card, she can then apply for an ARC using your APRC.
Additionally, considering other countries like Malaysia or Thailand that offer long-term visas, this is something worth comparing. The Gold Card seems to be quite selective to obtain but it then provide a fast track to APRC at a reasonable cost ($300-500 USD). These others visa are more expensive I believe but more people could qualify.
Could you share your goals regarding obtaining permanent residency? This could help us provide further information.
MIN · January 9, 2024 at 5:21 am
Thank you very much for enlighten us!
My spouse and I are both in entertainment industry and since we are just around of corner to FIRE at this point, We’ve been trying to do remote work thing in SEA for the last 1.5 year but we realized that we will be more comfortable to have some sort of home base instead of moving around every few months with tourist visa..
However, the thing is we are way too young to apply retirement visa (Thailand Non-O, Philippines SRRV and Sarawak MM2H) but even though we love our long term travelling, feel bit too tiring to doing consistent travel without having a place we can call home base. (We are also early 40s)
We tried to purchase Thailand Elite visa before price hiking but could not justified the upfront cost and Malaysian federal MM2H is extremely vague at this stage. Then I found your blog post about TGC.
We originally planned to apply separated Gold Cards. I think I’m qualified more than 5-6 categories thanks to my previous works and thought my spouse can apply through Economic salary category but seems like she is not qualified anymore unless she actually has experiences in the economic field. However as you mentioned above, I haven’t thought about simply just applying spouse ARC if we feel like to stay in Taiwan for longer term after I receive my APRC instead of staying for 6 months every single year to just maintain her spouse APRC. That seems much easier to do so.
Mr. Nomad Numbers · January 13, 2024 at 1:35 am
Great to hear. Yeah having one partner getting the gold card and the second one “piggy backing” on it is a viable option especially if you plan to make Taiwan your permanent home! Please let us know how it goes and if you plan to be to Taiwan in 2024 (or beyond) let us know!
W · February 2, 2024 at 3:13 pm
Do you have a links to information about a “Foreign Special Professional APRC” because I can’t find anything that indicates that there is a separate APRC for Gold Card holders?
Mr. Nomad Numbers · February 4, 2024 at 2:04 am
Hi W.
There are different types. If you come from the gold card you will get the most flexible one with need to return in the country only one day every 5 years. The other type would need you to stay in the country at least 183 days per year.
Check this page that we linked already from our blog post: https://www.foreignersintaiwan.com/blog-370963385326684/taiwan-aprc-faq and look for “What kind of APRC are there”.
Will you apply for an APRC coming from a Gold Card?
W · February 4, 2024 at 4:28 am
I already have an ordinary APRC that I got after working for five years in Taiwan (more than 10 years ago). I have worked in the tech industry (technical marketing/writing) for 15 years (most recently, about four years in the semiconductor industry). I left Taiwan for over 3 years and have been back in Taiwan for the past 2 years (thankfully, my APRC was via work and not a spouse; otherwise, it would have been revoked while living back in the USA).
If possible, I would like to change my status from a foreign professional to a foreign special professional (in the tech field) so that I can get some unique benefits of that status, specifically preferences for admission to elite high schools for my kids, such as the affiliated high school of Taiwan National Normal University and the national experimental international bilingual high schools at the three science parks (Hsinchu, Taichung, and Tainan). Going from an APRC to a Gold Card doesn’t make sense. I wonder if there is an alternative route that allows me to keep an APRC and be recognized as a foreign special professional.
Mr. Nomad Numbers · February 5, 2024 at 11:44 pm
Hi W,
You could try to reach to the Gold Card office and ask them. The GC is a few years old so there might be alternative to get what you are looking for. If you do find out please let us know so we can update our post!
Adesso · March 14, 2024 at 3:46 pm
Hi Mr. NN
Great to come across your post here!
I have a question. Are parents considered as dependents? Can my parents piggyback onto my gold card application?
What would you recommend?
Mr. Nomad Numbers · March 21, 2024 at 8:16 am
Hi Adesso,
Unfortunately, parents aren’t considered as dependents (only spouse and children). That being said, during the pandemic, Gold Card holders were able to request a special treatment for them to come visit the country, while the border were closed to regular visitor.
Are you trying to bring you parents to leave with you in Taiwan and obtain a resident visa?
Mr. NN
Matt · June 9, 2024 at 1:58 pm
Can you use the 5M NT once you get the visa or transfer a part of it back to your home country? Or is it blocked like in the case of Malaysian MM2H until the end of your visa?
You mentioned you sent USD to a Taiwanese bank first, but how could you open a bank account before obtaining the visa, was it possible to open a bank account on a tourist 90 days pass?
I’m currently in Malaysia on the digital nomad visa but the program is only for 2 years so I’m either considering the Taiwan GC or the Sarawak MM2H afterwards, your website is very informative!
Mr. Nomad Numbers · June 10, 2024 at 5:09 am
Hi Matt,
You need to get approved for the Gold Card and stay on this visa for 3 years before you can apply for APRC using this route. While having your gold card, you will be able to open a banks account.
Unlike the MM2H, once you have received your APRC you can take the money out of your account. We actually did it the following day 🙂
Hope this helps!
Mario · August 4, 2024 at 10:07 am
Hello,
I have a question to point 7. (Police Criminal Record Certification from hme country). Did you leave Taiwan for more then 3 month so this document was required? In my case I entered Taiwan about 1 year after my Goldcard was issued and then never left for more than 3 month in one trip. I’m on my 2nd Goldcard and want to switch to APRC now. As I understand it the “lawful continuous residence for permanent residency application ” starts with the issue date on your card so even I technically never left for more then 3 month I’m not sure wether or not I need the police record (in my case with German passport) because the first year I was not in Taiwan yet.
Also in case I need the police criminal record, I was a bit confused about all the partys involved in reviewing and legalizing (point 3. and 4. in your list) Why need the Mofa in Taiwan to legalize it when its already legalized by the oversees mission in your home country and is it required to send it to your home countrys represantation office here in taiwan for review?
Thank you, Mario
Mr. Nomad Numbers · September 17, 2024 at 6:09 am
Hi Mario,
Yes, we were outside Taiwan for more than three months, so we had to go through this process. It’s specific to each country, so I can’t comment on the process for Germany. If you’re unsure whether you need to provide this document, I recommend stopping by your local NIA office. They should be able to help you figure it out quickly. In Taipei, they speak English and have been very helpful with all the questions we’ve had.
As for the process, it’s country-specific, so I can only speak to the French one. Essentially, you get a PDF in French that you print, and this needs to be translated by a translator approved by the French government. After that, since the APRC is reviewed in Taiwan, MOFA also needs to confirm that both the translation and the document are valid, which is why they add their signature to legalize it.
MIN · November 16, 2024 at 7:42 am
Thanks to your post and comment, I received my Taiwan Gold card this summer. I still couldn’t decide whether I will stay long term in Taiwan to apply APRC over Thailand’s new 5yrs Thai DTV visa at this point (Cost of living, (harder)language barrier).
A few things I’m wondering at this point is how to maintain tax residency in Taiwan for keeping investment brokerage accounts, Taiwanese bank accounts or NHI card in Taiwan if I would travel outside of Taiwan more than 6 months after getting APRC.
I’m from Canada and if I leave my tax residency in Canada for Taiwan tax residency, I will pay my departure tax and will be done with Canada tax system forever. But staying less than 183 days in Taiwan after a few years with APRC, I’ll have no tax residency. I just guess that would make me quite difficult to keep my brokerage and bank, since Taiwan is very strict about 183 days tax residency rule.
It would be great to hear how you guys are dealing with this issue since you are still travelling outside of Taiwan quite a lot.
Do you try to stay in Taiwan over 6 months each year for this or is there other way around it to maintain all your financial assets and NHI in Taiwan? Any tips would be very helpful!
Thank you!
Mr. Nomad Numbers · November 17, 2024 at 5:37 pm
Hi MIN!
First of all, congratulations on getting the Taiwan Gold Card!
To answer your question, our tax residency is now in Taiwan. Even though we don’t spend 183 days there every year (technically you are tax resident with as little as 90 days in the country), we’ve designated it as our tax residence for the countries we owe taxes to (mainly the USA and France). Neither country seems to track how much time we actually spend in Taiwan for this purpose, and Taiwan is happy to receive any taxes we owe.
If you’re planning to leave Canada, make sure you can still manage your bank account there. Most of our money is in the USA, and while we’ve been able to maintain access to our accounts as American citizens, we’ve heard stories of people losing access to their accounts after leaving the country. We use a US mailing address through TravelingMailbox (Our review: https://www.nomadnumbers.com/how-to-get-mail-when-you-travel-traveling-mailbox-review-2/), which has been helpful to use are our banking address.
Taxes can be complicated, so I strongly recommend reaching out to a CPA, preferably one experienced with situations like yours. Please keep in mind that this is not tax or financial advice 😉
That being said, I hope this helps!
Feel free to reach out if you have more questions.
Mr. NN
Kong · September 4, 2024 at 7:34 pm
Btw, how did you apply for Taiwan Employment Gold Card at that time? What requirements did you meet?You don’t look like Caucasian,you look moreike Asian😁, which country are you originally from? Vietnam? China?
Mr. Nomad Numbers · September 16, 2024 at 3:02 am
Hi Kong,
We initially applied under the Economy job qualification by providing proof of income which we met back in 2018 using our US tax return from that year (since we stopped working in 2018)
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