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Taiwan · digital nomad visa · 2026

Taiwan has no digital nomad visa — here's what people use instead

36months
Employment Gold CardOpen · checked 2026-08-18 · goldcard.nat.gov.tw

Taiwan has no dedicated digital nomad visa. What remote workers use is the Employment Gold Card, which is a different animal — read the note below before you assume it fits, an initial 36 months for remote workers earning 160,000 TWD a month.

Next step

One email when the app can count this stay for you.

How we know

Every figure here is as goldcard.nat.gov.tw publishes it, checked 18 August 2026. Where a number is our own arithmetic rather than a printed figure, the row says so.

Status
Open
Visa
Employment Gold Card
Initial stay
36 months
Renewal
Issued for 1-3 years and renewable. Holders who meet the residence and income conditions may subsequently apply for permanent residency.
Income required
160,000 TWD a month — NT$160,000 per month is the salary route, not a universal requirement — it is one of several alternative qualification criteria and applies within a chosen professional field. In the Economy field: "Previously or currently holding a position at an economic company or in an economic field in a foreign state or in the ROC with a most recent monthly salary of at least NT$160,000." In the Digital field the same threshold appears as "most recent monthly salary of at least NT$160,000". Applicants may instead qualify on experience (for example "at least eight years of relevant professional experience in the digital economy-related industries or fields"), on a doctorate from a top-500 ranked university, or on awards and patents.
Processing
"30 days for complete applications; 50-60 days if additional documents are requested."
Who qualifies
A "4-in-1 card, that includes a resident visa, work permit, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC), and re-entry permit." The open work permit lets holders seek and change employment freely. Applications are made under twelve professional fields — Architecture, Biotechnology, Culture and Arts, Digital, Economy, Education, Environment, Finance, Law, National Defense, Science and Technology, and Sports — and "An application must be submitted under only ONE field and ONE regulation."
Family
Spouse and children are eligible for dependent residence. Lineal ascendants (parents and grandparents) may be granted extended visitor visas of up to one year. Employed cardholders and their dependants may enrol directly in National Health Insurance without the standard six-month waiting period.
Where to apply
Apply online through the Employment Gold Card portal operated by Taiwan's National Development Council. A qualification check tool is provided at the first application step.
Official page
goldcard.nat.gov.tw
Checked
18 August 2026

Sources are listed further down the page.

What to know before you apply

The Employment Gold Card is an open work permit for skilled professionals — it grants the right to take local Taiwanese employment, the opposite of the digital-nomad model, and qualification is by professional standing, not remote-work status. Nomads use it because it needs no employer sponsor, but it is not a digital nomad visa. The Employment Gold Card is NOT a digital nomad visa and should not be presented as one. It is a skilled-professional route that happens to suit well-paid remote workers because it carries an open work permit rather than tying the holder to a sponsoring employer, which is why it appears in nomad guides. There is no requirement that income come from outside Taiwan, and no remote-work condition. Note also a small inconsistency across the government's own pages: the homepage says "Stay for up to 3 years" while the about page says the card allows holders to remain "1-3 years"; some official materials elsewhere describe a 1-4 year range. We have recorded 1-3 years, which is what the two pages fetched today state, and set maxStayMonths to the 36-month upper bound.

What it means for your tax days

Qualified foreign special professionals working in Taiwan for the first time may receive "a 50% tax exemption on annual salary income exceeding NT$3 million in the first 5 years". A visa is permission to stay; tax residency follows the days. Taiwan treats you as tax resident once you are present 183 days More than 183 days during a taxable year — this limb applies only to a person with no domicile in the ROC — though the system is territorial, so foreign income may fall outside it. Days are not the only test: Income Tax Act Article 7: an "individual residing in the Republic of China" is either (1) "A person who has domicile within the territory of the Republic of China and resides at all times within the territory of the Republic of China", or (2) "A person who has no domicile within the territory of the Republic of China but resides within the territory of the Republic of China for a period of more than 183 days during a taxable year". Anyone not fitting those descriptions is an individual not residing in the ROC. THE 90-DAY RULE is a SOURCE rule, not a residency rule — Article 8(3) treats remuneration for services rendered in the ROC as ROC-source income, "however, this shall not apply to remuneration obtained from an employer without the territory of the Republic of China by an individual not residing in the Republic of China but staying in the Republic of China for a period of not more than ninety days during a taxable year". Individuals file between 1 to 31 May for the preceding year under Article 71. The full tests and the official source are on our Taiwan tax-day page.

Sources

Questions people ask about Taiwan

Does Taiwan have a digital nomad visa?

No — not a dedicated one. Taiwan has no digital-nomad-specific visa; remote workers use the Employment Gold Card instead, which has its own rules. The Employment Gold Card is an open work permit for skilled professionals — it grants the right to take local Taiwanese employment, the opposite of the digital-nomad model, and qualification is by professional standing, not remote-work status. Nomads use it because it needs no employer sponsor, but it is not a digital nomad visa. The Employment Gold Card is NOT a digital nomad visa and should not be presented as one. It is a skilled-professional route that happens to suit well-paid remote workers because it carries an open work permit rather than tying the holder to a sponsoring employer, which is why it appears in nomad guides. There is no requirement that income come from outside Taiwan, and no remote-work condition. Note also a small inconsistency across the government's own pages: the homepage says "Stay for up to 3 years" while the about page says the card allows holders to remain "1-3 years"; some official materials elsewhere describe a 1-4 year range. We have recorded 1-3 years, which is what the two pages fetched today state, and set maxStayMonths to the 36-month upper bound.. Checked 18 August 2026.

How much do you need to earn for the Taiwan digital nomad visa?

160,000 TWD a month — NT$160,000 per month is the salary route, not a universal requirement — it is one of several alternative qualification criteria and applies within a chosen professional field. In the Economy field: "Previously or currently holding a position at an economic company or in an economic field in a foreign state or in the ROC with a most recent monthly salary of at least NT$160,000." In the Digital field the same threshold appears as "most recent monthly salary of at least NT$160,000". Applicants may instead qualify on experience (for example "at least eight years of relevant professional experience in the digital economy-related industries or fields"), on a doctorate from a top-500 ranked university, or on awards and patents.. That is the figure as published; check the official page for the current amount before you apply.

How long can you stay on the Taiwan digital nomad visa?

36 months on the initial permission; issued for 1-3 years and renewable. holders who meet the residence and income conditions may subsequently apply for permanent residency.. Stretch counts the days either way and tells you the date you must be out.

Does a digital nomad visa in Taiwan make you tax resident?

Not by itself — but staying does. Taiwan treats you as tax resident once you are there 183 days More than 183 days during a taxable year — this limb applies only to a person with no domicile in the ROC, though the system is territorial. Qualified foreign special professionals working in Taiwan for the first time may receive "a 50% tax exemption on annual salary income exceeding NT$3 million in the first 5 years". See our Taiwan tax-day page for the tests and the official source.

How does Stretch help with the Taiwan digital nomad visa?

Log the day you land and Stretch counts the days against the permission you are on, shows the date you must be out, and reminds you at 14, 7, 3 and 1 days. It also tallies the days that count towards tax residency, so the 183-day question answers itself. The counting and the alerts are free, forever.

Other digital nomad visas

Taiwan, the rest of it

Stretch is a tracker, not legal advice, and this is not tax advice. Visa and tax rules change and are applied by the authority, not by an app — every figure here shows its source and the date we checked it. Checked 2026-08-18; confirm on the official page before you apply or file.