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Taiwan’s Elite Card: A Golden Ticket that No One Can Obtain

Siren Chen says it's better to curb your enthusiasm: The Elite Card promises a golden ticket, but with a NT$6M salary cap, few can qualify

Siren Chen
Shenzhen

The Global Elite Card is a new visa policy introduced by Taiwan that aims to attract high-end global talent.

You are in the club if your annual income in Taiwan reaches more than six million New Taiwan Dollars (NT$), approximately US$187,000, and you work in fields like Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and green-collar talents.

If you meet those criteria, you can apply for permanent residency after settling in Taiwan for one year, your spouse can work in Taiwan, and your children can receive education in Taiwan.

If your relatives want to visit you, there’s no time limit for them. What a magic card.

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Requiring applicants to have an annual income of NT$6 million, however, is equivalent to telling most applicants: “You are not welcome.”

Where did the number NT$6 million come from?

According to statistical data from 2018, the average salary level in Taiwan is about NT$36,500 per month.

In Taiwan, industries and positions that reach the NT$6 million annual income level are usually available in high-tech and financial industries.

On Taiwan’s leading job site, 104 Job Bank, a senior AI engineer’s monthly salary is approximately NT$150,000, translating to an annual salary of about NT$1.8 million.

Even employees at major companies like TSMC, ASML, and NVIDIA have annual salaries ranging from NT$ 1 million to NT$ 5 million. Therefore, individuals earning a yearly income of NT$6 million are rare exceptions.

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Previously, Taiwan had a talent visa called the Taiwan Gold Card, which required a monthly salary of NT$160,000 to qualify—a figure less than one-third of the annual income requirement for the Elite Card.

The Gold Card has already been approved for many YouTube influencers with millions of followers had obtained the Gold Card, highlighting how simpler it is compared to the Elite Card.

The level of recognition and project maturity among Gold Card holders, however, tend to be higher compared to those with the Elite Card.

Compared to other visas in Taiwan, this Elite Card has some unique advantages.

You can apply for permanent residency after settling in Taiwan for just one year. In addition, it provides opportunities for spouses and children to work and study in Taiwan, which other visas may not offer. But one has to ask, is that worth NT$ 6 million?

Compared to talent visas in Macao and Hong Kong, Taiwan’s Global Elite Card obviously does not have a competitive edge. As international financial centers, Macao and Hong Kong may offer more employment opportunities and a higher level of internationalization in professional service fields such as finance and law.

We know from the talent visa policies of Macao and Hong Kong that these regions’ visa policies may focus more on the professional background of applicants and their contributions to local society, targeting a wider range of applicants with more relaxed and flexible conditions.

In contrast, Taiwan’s Global Elite Card uses this NT$ 6 million threshold to keep out a large number of talented people who can contribute to local development.

One of the few comparable programs is Singapore’s Tech Pass, which looks for individuals earning a drawn fixed monthly salary of at least SGD 22,500, approximately US$206,000, from a leading role in a tech company with a valuation/market cap of at least US$500 million or at least US$30 million in raised funding.

It would be inappropriate for us, however, to compare Taiwan with Singapore as the two places have entirely different talent acquisition logic, targets, and performance.

Singapore sets a different tone for the applicant by looking back on how he or she performed in the past to gain residency in Singapore, unlike the Taiwan Elite Card that asks for future income generated in Taiwan.

No wonder there are a large number of critics on YouTube expressing their feelings. Does Taiwan want true talent or wealth brought by the rich?

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