Can my spouse and children also apply for permanent residency? What are the qualifications?
You can apply if you meet one of the following conditions:
- After the Gold Card holder has obtained permanent residency, if their spouse, underage children (or adult children with mental/physical disabilities who are unable to care for themselves) THEN stay for at least an additional 3 consecutive years (for an average of 183 days or more per year) they may apply for permanent residency. They will be exempt from the financial proof requirements.
- Foreign nationals who have legally resided continuously in Taiwan for 5 years, with more than 183 days of residence each year, and who meet the requirements of Article 25 of the Immigration Act, may apply for permanent residency (Note: Adult children are eligible under this route.) Please note: If a Gold Card holder has a Ph.D. degree from Taiwan, one year of residence requirement may be waived. However, this waiver does not apply to the Gold Card holder’s dependents. For more details, please refer to the guidelines for submitting permanent residency applications.
Please note: Gold Card holders may use a doctoral degree issued in Taiwan to offset two years of the residency requirement, and a master’s degree issued in Taiwan to offset one year of the residency requirement. However, dependents of Gold Card holders are not eligible for this offset. In addition, Gold Card holders whose domestic salary and income from professional practice in the most recent year reach NT$6 million or more may also apply for permanent residency at the earliest after one year of residence.
For regulations regarding permanent residency, please refer to the provisions of the National Immigration Agency. Contact information for the NIA can be found on this webpage