TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday (May 7) approved draft amendments that ease naturalization rules for “high-level professionals” and assist the application naturalization process for stateless children living in Taiwan.
The Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of amendments to the Nationality Act (國籍法) making them law. These include relaxing the required residency period for high-level foreign professionals applying for naturalization.
In a statement, Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said amid international competition for skilled workers, the law’s revisions will make it more convenient for “outstanding foreign individuals” to undergo naturalization. Lin also emphasized that the act implements Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect stateless children’s right to acquire a nationality.
To attract “high level professionals” to Taiwan and increase incentives for naturalization, the act relaxes residency duration requirements, without requiring individuals to renounce their original nationality.
The new legislation exempts individuals who have made substantial contributions from paying the nationality documents fee. It also allows stateless children to be represented by social welfare organizations.
During the clause-by-clause discussion on April 24, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Mei-ling (羅美玲) inquired whether athletes would be included among the high-level professionals. Department of Household Registration Acting Director Chen Tzu-ho (陳子和) said they would be included.
Amendments to Nationality Act Articles 5 and 9, relax the residency requirements for those eligible. Instead of maintaining legal residence for at least 183 days per year for three consecutive years, the new regulation lowers the requirement to two straight years.
An amendment to Article 6 includes a provision that waives the Taiwan nationality permit certificate fee of NT$1,200 (US$37) for foreign nationals who have made “significant contributions” during their long-term residence in Taiwan. This includes professionals in healthcare, social welfare, education, and service to remote rural areas.
To align with lowering the legal age of majority, from 20 to 18 in the Civil Code (民法), the provisions related to foreign nationals were modified to use an age-based standard. The term “unmarried minors” was amended to “unmarried and under 18 years old.”
Amendments to Articles 4 and 7 enable stateless persons who are unmarried and under 18 to apply for Taiwanese citizenship if they are represented by social welfare authorities or social welfare organizations as their guardians. Previously, only adoptive parents of such stateless minors could apply for naturalization on their behalf if at least one adoptive parent was a Taiwanese citizen.
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