Teaching employment at a qualifying public or private school.
Taiwan
Taiwan sits in Eastern Asia. Its immigration system runs 96 distinct routes — led by work, family and short stay & visit, each set out in official law. All 96 cite an official government source, shown on the route with the date we last read it. Who actually qualifies depends on your full profile.
- Immigration routes
- 96across 16 route categories, each set out in official law
- Source-cited routes
- 96 of 96cite an official government source, with the date we last read it
- Largest category
- Work21 of the 96 routes — see them under Work below
- Region
- Eastern Asia
- Capital
- Taipei
- Population
- 23,317,031
- Official language
- Chinese
- Currency
- TWD
- Time zone
- UTC+08:00
Immigration routes
All 96 routes, grouped by purpose — 96 of 96 cite an official government source directly.
Work
21 routes
Employment in an approved agriculture, forestry, livestock or aquaculture position.
Employment in an approved construction position.
Care work at an approved institution.
Approved live-in caregiving in a private household.
Approved live-in household-help work.
Employment in an approved manufacturing position.
Employment in an approved ocean-fishing position.
Employment through an approved outreach agricultural-service arrangement.
Employment in an approved slaughterhouse position.
Foreign-language teaching at an approved short-term cram school.
Approved intermediate skilled or technical employment for a qualifying associate-degree graduate from Taiwan.
Retention in an approved intermediate skilled or technical occupation after substantial lawful sector experience.
Approved bilingual-translation work within the intermediate technical foreign-work framework.
Approved chef work within the intermediate technical foreign-work framework.
Part-time work by an eligible enrolled foreign or overseas Chinese student.
Professional work in Taiwan under an approved contract performed by a foreign business.
Employment in an approved specialised or technical professional field.
Specialist instruction at an approved short-term cram school.
Technical employment in commercial-port cargo handling or warehousing under the programme effective from 1 January 2026.
Technical employment in the hospitality sector under the programme effective from 1 January 2026.
Investment
3 routes
Permanent residence through a sustained qualifying business investment and local employment.
Permanent residence through sustained investment in qualifying central-government bonds.
Residence for a foreign investor or authorised representative after the qualifying investment is approved.
Business & self-employment
2 routes
Employment as the approved director or manager of a foreign-invested business in Taiwan.
Residence for an entrepreneur whose startup or innovation case is approved under the entrepreneur programme.
Talent & merit
8 routes
Combined work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate and re-entry permission for a qualifying foreign special professional.
Employment of a foreign special professional in a recognised specialist field.
Entry by a qualifying Hong Kong or Macao resident to seek employment in Taiwan.
Discretionary permanent residence for a senior professional recognised under the published Plum Blossom criteria.
Discretionary permanent residence for a person recognised for a special contribution to Taiwan.
Employer-sponsored professional employment for a qualifying foreign or overseas Chinese graduate of a Taiwan institution under the points system.
Individual professional-work permit for a recent bachelor's graduate of a globally top-200 university.
Professional work during the two-year post-graduation extension for a qualifying international graduate of a Taiwan institution.
Study
8 routes
Approved exchange study lasting more than six months.
Full-time degree or other qualifying school study lasting more than six months.
Residence for a student who has completed the required period at a recognised Mandarin-language centre and continues study.
Full-time study in Taiwan after placement or approval under the overseas-Chinese-student framework.
Approved internship lasting more than six months.
Approved exchange programme lasting less than six months.
Approved internship lasting less than six months.
Short stay for approved professional training.
Family
16 routes
Continued residence for a surviving or former spouse who has a qualifying care, parental-rights or contact relationship with a Taiwan minor child.
Entry for an immediate family member of an approved Hong Kong or Macao specialised professional.
Dependent residence for a qualifying Mainland Chinese spouse of a Taiwan-area sponsor.
Long-term residence after completion of the qualifying Mainland-spouse dependent-residence stage.
Settlement and household registration after the qualifying Mainland-spouse residence sequence.
Permanent residence for a qualifying dependent of a foreign professional.
Permanent residence for a qualifying dependent of a foreign special professional.
Accelerated permanent residence for a qualifying dependent covered by the elite special-professional family rule.
Permanent residence for a qualifying foreign spouse or child of a Taiwan citizen.
Derived permanent residence for the spouse or minor child of a principal approved for investment permanent residence.
Permanent residence during lawful residence for a surviving foreign spouse caring for or maintaining rights or contact with a qualifying Taiwan minor child.
Residence based on marriage to a qualifying foreign, Hong Kong, Macao or ROC sponsor authorised to reside in Taiwan.
Residence based on marriage to an ROC national residing in Taiwan with household registration.
Residence for a foreign child under 18 joining a qualifying parent or grandparent in Taiwan.
Derived residence for a qualifying spouse, minor child or adult child unable to live independently because of disability.
Derived residence for qualifying family members of an approved entrepreneur.
Digital nomad
1 route
— No eligibility summary published for this route yet
Residence-based status
5 routes
Permanent residence after the general statutory residence period.
Accelerated permanent residence for the published elite special-professional case.
Permanent residence for a qualifying foreign professional after the professional residence period.
Accelerated permanent residence for a qualifying foreign special professional.
Temporary stay after the end of qualifying foreign-professional or Gold Card residence to seek new work or prepare departure.
Youth mobility
1 route
One-time holiday in Taiwan with incidental work for a national of a current bilateral working-holiday partner.
Cultural, religious & volunteer
9 routes
Employment in an approved artistic or performance activity.
Independent artistic work under the individual foreign-artist permit.
Religious work with an approved Taiwan religious organisation for more than six months.
Study of religious doctrine with an approved institution for more than six months.
Approved volunteer service lasting more than six months.
Entry for an approved short artistic performance.
Short stay for approved religious work.
Short study of religious doctrine.
Approved unpaid volunteering lasting less than six months.
Short stay & visit
13 routes
Entry to seek professional employment.
Electronic short-stay visa for an eligible nationality or qualifying event or purpose.
Arrival visa for qualifying holders of temporary or emergency passports from visa-exempt countries.
Short entry by an eligible Hong Kong or Macao resident through the online entry-permit system.
Short visit by a national and travel document covered by Taiwan's current visa-exemption rules.
Short business visit that does not itself create local employment.
Short participation in a conference or exhibition.
Short visit for a recognised personal visiting purpose.
Extended visit by a qualifying Japanese retiree.
Chinese-language study for less than six months.
Entry for approved employment of less than six months.
Short visit for tourism.
Short visit to qualifying relatives in Taiwan.
Humanitarian protection
3 routes
Residence for the narrowly defined stateless persons from Thailand, Myanmar or Indonesia who entered Taiwan before the 1999 statutory cut-off.
Exceptional permanent residence for a trafficking victim who meets the statutory special conditions.
Temporary residence and work protection for a foreign trafficking victim who cannot safely or immediately return.
Ancestry & return
2 routes
For an ROC national without household registration who holds qualifying Taiwan-area residence and meets a presence test: one continuous year with 335 days, two years with 270 days each, or five years with 183 days each.
For a national of the Republic of China who does not yet hold household registration in the Taiwan Area and who establishes one of the statutory bases for residence.
Medical treatment
1 route
Short stay for medical treatment.
Sports
2 routes
Employment or engagement as a qualifying athlete.
Employment as a qualifying sports coach.
Transit
1 route
Transit through Taiwan under a visitor visa.
Official sources
- National Immigration Agency NIAGovernment
- Employment Gold Card NDCGovernment
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