Technical Payroll Update – Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals

The specific condition prescribed in Article 18, Paragraph 3, Subparagraph 2 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals is that a foreign special professional must have earned domestic salary income and professional practice income in Taiwan totaling at least NT$6 million in the most recent year.

Beginning in 2024, Japan introduced the Special Highly Skilled Professionals system (J-Skip), which grants foreign nationals who meet specified academic/professional qualifications and annual income thresholds eligibility for permanent residence in Japan.

To strengthen Taiwan’s efforts to attract and recruit global talent, Taiwan has adopted a similar approach by referencing the income thresholds under Japan’s J-Skip system (JPY 20 million and JPY 40 million, approximately NT$4 million and NT$8 million, respectively). After balancing these benchmarks, Taiwan set NT$6 million as the qualifying income threshold for foreign special professionals applying for permanent residence.

In addition, because the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals is intended to attract foreign special professionals to work in Taiwan in designated professional fields and to help address domestic talent and technology shortages, the qualifying income is, in principle, limited to domestic salary income and professional practice income earned in Taiwan during the most recent year.