Moving To Taiwan (1): Benefits of the Employment Gold Card

In recent months, when I’d mention that I was moving to Taiwan, the most common question(s) that came up related to how and/or why I specifically chose this as my destination. Those queries would usually be followed by questions about what I planned on doing and/or whether I‘d be teaching English (I’ll talk more about my ideas and/or plans in the next post), as well as a discussion about the Taiwan Employment Gold Card

The short version is that I had been looking at my options regarding moving abroad with particular interest in Nordic Europe and East Asia. Once I decided to prioritise East Asia (a number of factors came into play), I looked at my options, including South Korea, China, Japan, and, of course, Taiwan. Again, I won’t go into the details of what shaped my decisions of priorities, but the uncertainty around China’s (closed) borders during the pandemic, on the one hand, and the apparent ubiquity of English-teaching opportunities in South Korea were factors. That said, I was also hoping for some level of flexibility in terms of employment and opportunities, but I was willing to take up a one-year TEFL contract if that was my only/best option.

Thankfully, in mid-September, while running a job search on LinkedIn, I spotted what looked like a job advert, but which said something about the Taiwan Employment Gold Card. I decided to take a closer look and was excited by what I saw. According to the website for the Taiwan Employment Gold Card office:

Launched in 2018, the Taiwan Employment Gold Card is a 4-in-1 card, that includes a resident visa, work permit, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC), and re-entry permit, which allows you to leave and re-enter Taiwan multiple times over the course of 1-3 years. Applicants can apply online without sponsorship.

Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office

When I first read this, it seemed too good to be true, but when I looked at the qualification criteria, I understood it a bit better. This option was only open to highly qualified, very experienced and/or high-income earning professionals who, it was believed, could best contribute to Taiwanese society and their economy. The website went on to say that:

The criteria differed from one industry or category to the next and I found numerous ways to qualify under each category. For example, one of the ways you could qualify in the Field of Sport is if you “served as a national team athlete, possess outstanding skills that will help raise the level of competitiveness of sport in Taiwan” combined with having achieved one of a number of accomplishments (this is not the only option under “sport”). On the other hand, in the Field of Finance, you could qualify if you “have served in a professional position in a financial institution and have outstanding professional ability or cross-border experience much-needed by the country”.

Obviously, I didn’t meet the criteria in either of these fields, but I was happy to find something in the Field of Education, where one of the criteria was as follows:

The person has graduated with a doctoral degree from one of the top 200 universities in the most recent QS World University Rankings or Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office

That said, I should add that as I was about to upload this post I noticed that the criteria for PhD-holders in the Field of Education appears to have changed, which could (at the very least) enable doctoral graduates from other South African universities to take this path:

The person has 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 U.S. News & World Report Rankings.

Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office

So, I’m now in Taiwan, after receiving confirmation that I got the Gold Card and I’m sitting in quarantine for a few more days. But what do I do next…? What’s the best way to approach making career and/or business plans going forward? Wait for part 2 of “Moving to Taiwan”…