Gov't to Allow Investment Immigration to Taiwan

Taipei, July 30, 2008 (CENS)--To solicit foreign capital and talents to Taiwan, the government has decided to allow foreigners investing over NT$30 million in Taiwan to apply for permanent residence certificate, while lowering the minimum service years for foreign white-collar workers to apply for the certificate to five years, down from seven years now. Both measures will be effective on Aug. 1.

In the former case, the so-called investment immigration, the money must be invested in profit-seeking businesses with employment of over five local people for at least three years; it can also be deposited at government-designated financial institutions for five years or longer. In either case, the spouse and children before the age of majority can also apply for permanent residence certificate, said the National Immigration Agency, the Ministry of Interior.

In the latter case, white-collar foreign workers aged over 20 can apply for permanent residence certificate after having worked in Taiwan for five years and over 183 days each year, compared with the existing requirement of seven years now, according to the National Immigration Agency.

Wang Chuan-hung, chairman of the Immigration Business Association, however, believed that the capital threshold for the investment immigration is rather high, compared with the capital requirement of US$500,000 (NT$15 million) for investment immigration in the U.S. and HK$6.5 million (NT$27 million) in Hong Kong. He noted that potential foreign immigrants to Taiwan are Chinese people in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian nations.