Work permits for "foreign professionals" are valid for a maximum of up to 3 years, and 5 years for " foreign special professionals". There are no restrictions on the number of extensions that can be applied for before the date the work permit expires.

Employer Application for Work Permit Extension:

In general, an application for extension can be made 4 months before the work permit expires as earliest. If the validity of the work permit is less than 6 months, an application for extension can be made after 2/3 of the employment period passes.

（ARTICLE 11 of the Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers）

If you want to be hired to work in Taiwan

1. You should first sign an employment contract with the company （employer）, and the employer should apply for a Work Permit from the Ministry of Labor. If all required documents are submitted, the work permit will be issued within 7 working days after the Ministry of Labor receives the application.

2. After the employer obtains the work permit, you should apply for an Alien Resident Certificate （ARC）.

（1） If you are not in Taiwan, you must apply for a visa at the Taiwan representative office abroad, and apply for an alien resident certificate in-person at the service counter at Immigration Services （Ministry of the Interior, MOI） or online （in Mandarin）after entering the country.

（2） If you are in Taiwan and have a valid visa for more than 60 days （without annotation）, you can apply for an alien resident certificate at the service counter at  MOI Immigration Services or online （in Mandarin）.

（3） If you are in Taiwan and entered the country visa free, you can directly apply for an alien resident permit at the service counter at MOI Immigration Services in accordance with Article 12 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals. Those not meeting the requirements of Article 12 may apply for an ARC via MOI Immigration Services or online after obtaining a visa from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

If you want to look for a job after coming to Taiwan

Check whether you are eligible to apply for an Employment Gold Card or a Job-Seeking Visa.

You can refer to the official website of the Ministry of Labor   for the documents required for employers to apply for work permits, and to confirm what information you must provide. If your documents are issued by the following countries, then you must certify the documents at one of the Overseas Representative Offices of Taiwan:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia.

In any of the following situations, some documents do not need to be certified:

1. If you work in a multinational company and are being transferred to a Taiwan branch or subsidiary through an internal transfer, then the work experience certification documents issued by the head （parent） company or branch （subsidiary） company do not need to be verified.

2. If you come to Taiwan to engage in academic research , and your academic degree or qualifications are from a foreign university or independent college recognized by the Ministry of Education or the central authorities concerned, then the certification documents of academic qualifications and work experience do not need to be verified.

3. The documents attached in accordance with the Scoring Criteria do not need to be verified.

If you would like to come to Taiwan to engage in specialized or technical work, you should meet one of the following conditions:

1. Obtain certificates or qualifications in accordance with the Professional Occupational and Technical Personnel Examination Law.

2. Obtain a master's level degree or higher from a relevant educational institution, or a bachelor's degree from a relevant institution with more than 2 years of relevant work experience.

3. Have worked in a multinational company for one year and have been assigned to work in Taiwan.

4. Those who have received professional training or are self-taught, but have at least 5 years of relevant experience, and can demonstrate that they possess original ideas and exceptional performance.

If you want to be employed in Taiwan as （1） the director or manager of an approved business invested or established by overseas Chinese or foreigners,  （2） full-time foreign language teacher in a cram school, （3） sports coaches and/or athletes （4） an artist or performer, or （5） a contract employee, please refer to the Ministry of Labor website for more detailed qualifications.

Foreign talents with a bachelor's degree who are engaged in  specialized or technical work should have more than 2 years of relevant work experience.

However, the 2-year work experience requirement may be waived if you meet one of the following conditions:

1. Possess a bachelor's degree or higher from an institution on the Ministry of Education’s list of the world's top 1500 universities.
2. Be eligible for individual case review to verify the foreign talent’s professional background and prove that they possess unique expertise. For relevant regulations, procedures, and application forms, please refer to the Ministry of Labor official website.
3. Obtain a bachelor's degree or higher from a university in Taiwan, or an associate degree in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, long-term care, e-commerce, and meet the requirements of the Scoring Criteria （eligibility requirements are listed in Q7）.

No. Per the regulations for foreign talents employed for specialized or technical work in Taiwan, “work experience” refers to work experience obtained after graduation, so part-time work experience as a student does not qualify.

Foreign and Overseas Chinese Students and Employers should meet all the following conditions to apply for the Scoring Criteria:

Foreign and Overseas Chinese Student Eligibility

1. Be a foreign student, overseas Chinese student or ethnic Chinese student; who has
2. Obtained a bachelor's degree or higher from a university in Taiwan, or an associate degree in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, long-term care, e-commerce, etc.; and
3. Accumulated 70 points per a review by the Ministry of Labor. For the method of calculation, please refer to the link.

Employer Eligibility

Employers should meet the relevant requirements if they wish to employ foreign talents to engage in various job categories under "specialized or technical work". For detailed requirements, please refer to the categories of occupation on the official website of the Ministry of Labor.

Regulations, application documents and hotlines

1. Information of the Scoring Criteria.
2. Hotline for consultation by the MOL Workforce Development Agency. （02） 8995-6000.

Application for the Scoring Criteria:

1. Confirm that both you and the employer are eligible for the Scoring Criteria.

2. Employers are requested to apply to the Ministry of Labor online for permission to hire foreign talents by submitting the application form and related documents.

3. You are eligible if you accumulate 70 points. For the calculation method, please refer to the link. The Ministry of Labor will issue a work permit based on the allotted quota in the current year.

1. If you are an overseas Chinese but not a ROC national, you must apply for a work permit in accordance with the regulations, just like any foreigner.
2. If you have dual citizenship （of ROC and a foreign nation） but do not have a household registration in Taiwan, you need to apply for a work permit （Article 79 of Employment Service Act）. However, you do not need to apply if you are a naturalized citizen of the Republic of China and enter with a ROC passport, as you do not need a work permit to work in the ROC. （Article 25 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals）.
3. If you are a permanent resident of Hong Kong and Macau, you must apply for a Taiwan work permit as a foreigner. If you are an overseas Chinese who obtained the status of overseas Chinese before the end of the Hong Kong British governance or Macao Portuguese governance, or you are the spouse and/or child of the former and meet the requirements for obtaining Chinese nationality, you must also apply for a work permit （Management and  Approval Regulations for Hong Kong and Macao Residents with Overseas Chinese I.D.）.
4. If you were born in mainland China, have acquired the nationality of a country other than the People's Republic of China, and have lived in a country other than the mainland for more than 4 years, you can apply for a work permit as if you were a foreign national.
5. If you are a mainland Chinese national but have not yet acquired the nationality of another country, you are not yet eligible to work in Taiwan （Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area）.

No, the working holiday visa functions the same as a work permit, and the employer does not need to apply to the Ministry of Labor for a work permit.

（Article 4 of Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers）.

During the validity of the Employment Gold Card, the cardholder can freely change employment without having to apply to the Ministry of Labor for a separate work permit. 

If you wish to be employed by another employer while your work permit is valid, the new employer will need to apply to the Ministry of Labor for another work permit （Article 53 of the Employment Service Act）.