Taiwan calling: Offers permanent residency, more work opportunities to foreign students
NEW DELHI: In a major policy initiative to attract foreign professionals to Taiwan, its government has amended its laws and eased norms allowing graduate/postgraduate students to work in Taiwan without two years of experience.
Now, the students in the field of science and technology, business, education, culture, the arts, sports, or others can apply for permanent residency in Taiwan after staying in the country for three years, instead of the current five years.
Other attractions include the provision of tax exemptions and inclusion in Taiwan’s national health insurance scheme for such professionals.
The Taiwan government recently brought about some changes in its employment policy to encourage foreign professionals to work in the country.
Certain revisions have been made to the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals Act that would help make Taiwan more accommodative for foreign professionals seeking work opportunities, including Indian students.
Peters Chen, Director, Education Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC) in India, said, “This amendment of the Act approved by Taiwan’s Parliament last Friday can be seen as a positive step towards encouraging Indian students to consider Taiwan as a destination for pursuing their higher studies. The new law would allow foreign students who hold a postgraduate degree or an undergraduate degree from a Taiwanese university to directly seek a job in Taiwan as a foreign special professional without the current requirement of two years of work experience.”
“Foreign special professionals” who possess special expertise needed by Taiwan in science and technology, business, education, culture, the arts, sports, or others can apply for permanent residency in Taiwan after staying in the country for three years, instead of the current five years.
The new rules also include the provision of tax exemptions and inclusion in Taiwan’s national health insurance scheme.
Especially for Indian students, the deregulation has come as good news. At present, the education division of TECC has inked into 608 university-level MOUs in India, and around 3,000 Indian students were studying in Taiwan last year.
Unlike earlier, students are likely to have access to more opportunities and time to explore different job prospects in Taiwan.
According to the TECC officials, the new rules would benefit the many Indian students studying in Taiwan. The cost of living, salaries in Taiwan are relatively high and the average salary for graduate students being more than Rs.1 Lakh per month, makes it an attractive destination for Indian students to work or pursue their higher studies.
Students wishing to study in Taiwan can get information regarding different programs, internships, and scholarships from the Taiwan Education Centres in Indian universities. The new law would encourage more Indian students to stay and work in Taiwan after completing their studies, which would eventually help improve bilateral relations between India and Taiwan in the coming years.
