At present, work that is open for foreign workers to come to Taiwan are: family nursing job and household service, institutional care work, manufacturing work, construction work, marine fishing work and slaughtering work. The qualifications of foreign workers and employers are as follows.

Age of coming to Taiwan

The age of foreign workers coming to Taiwan must be 16 years or older and 20 years old (including) or more for those who are engaged in family nursing job and household services.

Limit of working years

According to Article 52 of the Employment Service Act, foreign workers are allowed to work in Taiwan for a period of not more than 12 accumulated years. However, foreign family nursing job workers may submit an application form and required documents to apply for the extension of work year limit to 14 years if he or she has received professional training or self-study and has a permitted special performance as well as being in line with the qualification and provisions of the Department.

Qualifications and requirements of foreign workers :

Family Nursing Job

  • Work content：Take care of daily affairs for people with disabilities or diseases.
  • Qualifications of employer and people needing nursing：
  • Employers (applicants) and people needing nursing should have one of the following relationships：
    • 1. Spouse
    • 2. Consanguinity.
    • 3. Relatives by blood within the third degree of relationship.
    • 4. Relative of the first degree by marriage.
    • 5. Grandparents and granddaughter-in-law or grandparents and grandson-in-law.
  • Qualifications of people needing nursing：people needing nursing who apply for a foreign family care worker should meet one of the following two qualifications.
    • Qualification 1、A person needing nursing receives a professional assessment in a designated “Hospital evaluates the application for the employment of foreign worker for home care” and obtains the diagnosis certificate of requiring 24 hour care issued by the medical team with the assessment results in line with the one of the following circumstances：
      1. The person needing nursing is under 80 years old and needs daily care.
      2. The age of the person needing nursing is between 80 to 85 years old with a serious need for care or daily care.
      3. The person needing nursing is over 85 years and has a mild need for care.
    • Qualification 2、Except those holding the Handbooks for Physically and Mentally disabled issued by the municipal or county (city) social authority, the people needing nursing also have to meet one of the following criteria of specific or severe disabilities.
Specific physical and mental disorders
1. Balance dysfunction
2. Intelligent barriers
3. Brain-damaged
4. Dementia
5. Autism
6. Chromosomal abnormalities
7. Congenital abnormalities
8. Other birth defects
9. Mental illness
10.Limb disorders (limited to two illnesses of motor neurons or Parkinson’s disease; however, those who have already employed foreign family care workers are not included).
11.Rare disease (limited to motor neuron disease; however, those who have already employed foreign family care workers are not included).
12.Multiple obstacles (having at least one of the above-stated 11 physical and mental disorders)

Household Service Job

  • Job content：engage in house cleaning, food cooking, family members living care or other work related to private family services.
  • Employer qualification：
    • Qualification 1、family members who meet one of the following conditions：
    • (A) Having multiparous children of triplets and/or above, and under the age of three.
    • (B) Over sixteen cumulative points in calculating the household members in accordance with the following table.
    • Accumulated points of people’s age Points Accumulated points of people’s age Points
      Age under 1 year old 7.5 points Age above 75 but under 76 years old 1 point
      Age above 1 but under 2 years old 6 points Age above 76 but under 77 years old 2 points
      Age above 2 but under 3 years old 4.5 points Age above 77 but under 78 years old 3 points
      Age above 3 but under 4 years old 3 points Age above 78 but under 79 years old 4 points
      Age above 4 but under 5 years old 2 points Age above 79 but under 80 years old 5 points
      Age above 5 but under 6 years old 1 point Age above 80 but under 90 years old 6 points
      Age above 6 but under 75 years old No point counted Age above 90 years old 7 points
    • Qualification 2、Foreigners who invest or work in Taiwan shall meet one of the following qualifications：
    • Foreign capital More than NT 100 million Dollars Foreign personnel employed by a company at a position of general manager level or above
      More than NT 200 million Dollars Foreign personnel employed by a company at a position of department head level or above
      Last year turnover More than NT 500 million Dollars Foreign personnel employed by a company at a position of general manager level or above
      More than NT 1billion Dollars Foreign personnel employed by a company at a position of department head level or above
      Comprehensive income tax paid in our country Last annual salary of NT 3 million Dollars or more Foreign personnel hosts the position of director level or above in a company, corporation, incorporated foundation, aggregate corporation or international non-governmental organization
      Current monthly salary of NT 250,000 Dollars Foreign personnel hosts the position of director level or above in a company, corporation, incorporated foundation, aggregate corporation or international non-governmental organization
      Those who are in line with the above annual salary or salary terms that year, and the annual salary reaches NT 2 million Dollars or monthly salary more than NT 150,000 Dollars and, before entering and working in this country, having employed the same foreign domestic worker, can recruit such foreign people to engage in domestic work.

Institutional Nursing Job

  • Work description：Taking care of daily life for people with disabilities or illnesses who are hospitalized in a nursing institution or hospital equipped with beds providing respiratory care.
  • Employer qualification： Those meet one of the following qualifications.
    • 1. Long-term nursing institutions, care institutions, nursing care institutions, or social welfare organizations for receiving and caring for middle-range physically or mentally disabled persons, mentally disturbed persons, or persons suffering from dementia. Institutions may hire one foreign care taker for every three persons actually received and cared for by those institutions. The total number of applied foreigners shall not exceed the number of domestic care workers.
    • 2. Nursing and caring family institutions, hospitals for chronically ill patients or general hospitals, ordinary hospitals or specialized hospitals with wards for chronic illness patients or respiratory disease wards. With the number of wards registered in accordance with the law, 1 person may be employed for every 5 wards. The total number of applied foreigners shall not exceed the number of domestic care workers.
    • The number of domestic care workers shall be calculated on the basis of the date that the approved number of laborers are enrolled in labor insurance.

Manufacturing Job

  • Work content：Directly engaging in industrial manufacturing products or physical-related work
  • Employer qualification：Employers shall meet one of the following circumstances.
    • (1) Specific process cases: in line with the provisions stipulated by the Ministry of Labor regarding specific process (i.e. 3K or 3D process) and the associated manufacturing industry.
    • (2) New investment cases in Taiwan: Manufacturers and related industries that have set up a new factory with the specific process in the period from 13 March, 2013 to 31 December 2014 and have obtained the documents of factory registration proof of documents stipulated by the Ministry of Labor.
    • (3) New investment cases of Taiwanese businessmen returning to Taiwan: Manufacturers who have invested more than 2 years in overseas areas who comply with the specific process and related industries stipulated by the Ministry of Labor, and obtained a factory establishment registration certificate after having completed the new factory establishment within three (3) years after obtaining the Taiwan business people qualification identification document, and its investment amount and estimated number of domestic workers employed meet one of the following conditions：
      • Condition 1、the amount of high-tech industry manufacturing investment reaches NT 500 million dollars or more, or other industries manufacturing investment amounted to NT100 million dollars or more.
      • Condition 2、the new investment plan book estimates that, after the date of issue of the factory registration certificate, the number of employed domestic workers shall be more than 100 people.

Construction Job

  • Work description：Work or physical-related work at a construction site or related place directly engaged in construction.
  • Employer qualification：
  • Qualification 1、Being approved by the Ministry of Labor approved with major projects during the project competent entitiesreceiving the tender period or who signed a contract after May 16, 2001. To be approved, the project should meet one of the following qualifications：
  • (1) Private sector employer: major project invested in by private institutions and identified by the central purpose of the competent authorities with the total cost of the project amounting to NT 10 billion dollars or more and the program period is 1 year and 6 months or more.
  • (2) Employer of private institution who wins individual construction tender subject to a written contract: the value of such individual construction contract shall be more than NT1 billion Dollars with a program period longer than 1 year and 6 months.
  • (3) Employer of tender winner who has a written contract with a government agency: undertake an important construction project of a government agency or a public enterprise, with a total planned or planned expenses of NT 10 billion dollars or more approved by the central competent authority, and the total amount of its individual construction contract should be more than NT 1 billion dollars with the contract period of up to 1 year 6 months or more.
  • In accordance with the Government Plan Construction stipulated in “Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects”, the private institution that concludes a written contract with the government authorities shall be subject to the regulations specified in the preceding paragraph.
  • Qualification 2、Undertaking following major projects hosted by government authority in receiving tender document or signed the construction contract before May 16, 2001.
  • 1. Major public construction projects under the Twelve Major Infrastructure Programs controlled and audited by the Executive Yuan, or any national economic construction projects approved and registered by the Executive Yuan, and their total amount of construction exceeds 100 million New Taiwan Dollars.
  • 2. Other construction projects initiated by governmental authorities outside the preceding Item, their total amount of construction exceeds 200 million New Taiwan Dollars, and the duration of construction is over five hundred and forty-seven calendar days.
  • 3. Public-enterprise construction projects invested in by the private sector and approved by the competent authorities for other purposes at the central governmental level and designated as special cases, their total amount of construction exceeds 200 million New Taiwan Dollars, and their duration of construction is over five hundred and forth-seven calendar days.
  • 4. Construction projects invested in by the private sector and approved and promoted by governmental authorities, or major public construction projects participated in by civic institutions and approved by the competent authorities, the total amount of the major construction projects or the promoted construction projects exceeds 200 million New Taiwan Dollars, and their duration of construction is over five hundred and forty-seven calendar days.
  • 5. Non-civil engineering programs affiliated with those construction projects that are consistent with the qualifications listed in the preceding Items, their total amount of construction exceeds 50 million New Taiwan Dollars, and their duration of construction is over five hundred and forth-seven calendar days.
  • 6. Construction projects for public or private schools or medical institutions, their total amount of construction exceeds 150 million New Taiwan Dollars, and their duration of construction is over five hundred and forty-seven days.
  • 7. Construction projects for public or private social welfare institutions, their total amount of construction exceeds 100 million New Taiwan Dollars, and their duration of construction is over five hundred and forty-seven calendar days.
  • 8. Construction projects for factories of major investment projects for manufacturing industries.

Oceanic Fishing Jobs

  • Work description：engaged in ordinary fishing crew, cage aquaculture or related physical work
  • Employer qualification：Meeting one of the following qualifications
    • 1. Owners of fishing boats of more than twenty gross tonnage and have fishery licenses issued by the competent authorities for other purposes or other related competent authorities.
    • 2.Owners of motor boats of less than twenty gross tonnage, and have small boat licenses and fishery licenses issued by the competent authorities for other purposes or other related competent authorities.
    • 3.Demarcated fishing right holders of cage aquaculture industry who have a license issued by the competent authorities for other purposes or other related competent authorities, or exclusive fishing right holders with a certificate of fishery access for cage aquaculture.

Slaughter

  • Work description：directly engaged in slaughtering work or related physical work.
  • Employer qualification：A slaughterhouse that has obtained a slaughterhouse registration certificate approved by the Executive Yuan Agriculture Committee in accordance with provisions in Article 30 (1) of the Animal Industry Act.