Asia Visa Guide
Verified 11 September 2026

Long-stay visas for Taiwan

The Employment Gold Card bundles a work permit, residence visa and re-entry permit into one open-market document, with a tax concession for qualifying foreign professionals.

Employment Gold Card (Foreign Special Professional)

1, 2 or 3 years, chosen by the applicant at the time of application

The Taiwan Employment Gold Card bundles a resident visa, open work permit, ARC and re-entry permit into one card valid for 1, 2 or 3 years, with no employer sponsorship and no job offer needed. The best-known route is salary: several fields accept applicants who have held a position with "a most recent monthly salary of at least NT$160,000" — a figure fixed in NT dollars, so the US-dollar equivalent quoted in guides drifts with the exchange rate. Government fees run NT$3,700 / NT$4,700 / NT$5,700 for one, two and three years on a non-US foreign passport, and holders who then earn over NT$3,000,000 in salary and stay 183 days get half the excess above NT$3,000,000 excluded from income tax for five years.

Insurance: not required6 corrections tracked

What a month actually costs

Main hubTaipei
Lean monthabout $1,000
Comfortable monthabout $1,900

Estimates for one person, excluding flights and insurance. Presented as estimates because no primary source exists for cost of living — unlike every visa figure on this site, these are not sourced claims.