TAIPEI, TAIWAN!
I have no doubt Madrid would be an amazing experience but ultimately, we thought we’d feel most “at home” in Taipei. We understand Asian culture, have some exposure to the language and are happy to binge on dumplings, hot pot and noodles all day!
Many people have asked if we chose Taiwan because we have family there. We don’t! We have zero ties to Taiwan. We are Chinese, but our parents were born in China and Vietnam. We chose Taiwan because it fit most of our criteria.
We just submitted our application for the Taiwan Gold Card Visa. This work/resident visa allows the entire family to stay in Taiwan for up to 3 years, and access to Taiwan’s National Health Insurance system, which is supposed to be top notch. To qualify for the visa, you must have worked in the following fields:
Each field has its own requirements. We are applying under the Field of Economy aka business. Within this field, you must have either worked in specific roles or made a monthly salary of NT$160,000 (or $5,400 USD) in the past 3 years. Because of a huge influx of visa applications during the pandemic, Taiwan now requests a curriculum vitae to verify that applicants are working or have worked in relevant fields/industries. But comparatively speaking, the requirements are pretty straightforward.
The application itself was easy too. Aside from having to update our resumes, the application had only 5 sections and took about 30 minutes to complete. There are also step-by-step instructions, and live support via email and chat.
The visa application review process takes about 2 months so now….we just wait. The immigration agency might come back and request additional documents or worse, reject our application. (In which case, Spain here we come?!) Some people asked why we didn’t apply sooner. The 3-year time limit for the visa starts the day your application is approved and not from the day you arrive in Taiwan. If we were to stay the full 3 years, we’d want the boys to finish the school year, which would be around the time our visa application gets approved (assuming all things go as planned). Fingers crossed this all goes smoothly!
Hongs Abroad 