Previously foreigners who needed an ARC as the boss of their own Taiwanese company had to invest at least NTD500,000 and in the second year the company had to reach NTD3,000,000 in revenues. Many of our clients worried about the 3 million requirement since they said their company would take off, it just needed a bit more time to reach significant revenues.
To fix this, the government is now announcing the Entrepreneur Visa. Under this program, qualified companies can get Visas for up to 3 people. Initially they can get one (1) year of Taiwan residence. The resident permit can then be extended another 2 years for entrepreneurs who can provide evidence they are really running a bona fide business.
This means your company now has 3 years time to become big enough to give you an ARCs under the old rules.
Who is eligible for the Entrepreneur Visa?
There are a few ways to qualify for this entrepreneur visa.
1. Get domestic or foreign venture capital investment of NT$ 2 million (USD63,000) or get funding from a government recognized crowdfunding platform.
So which companies qualify as a VC firm? For domestic VC firms the definition is based on having the right “VC” business license item. For a foreign company the definition is not quite that clear and you might have to submit a brief explaining the company’s investment experience.
The government will issue a list of crowd funding companies they pre-approve like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo but as far as we were told, other platforms might be accepted as well, just submit an explanation of the platform with a link to your campaign.
2. Participated in an approved entrepreneurial accelerator or incubator. Some of the organizations you could choose would be: Taiwan Startup Stadium, 500 Startups, Futureward, AppWorks, TXA, Garage+ and 90 other organizations. Download the full incubator/accelerator list here (as of 20190522).
3. Hold patents overseas
4. Those who have won international startup or design competitions such as IDG Demo Show, Red Dot, iF design.
5. An entrepreneur who has invested at least NT$1 million in an innovative startup and is the representative of that company
As we learn more we will share. If anyone goes ahead and applies for this visa program, we would be very interested in hearing from you.
How to Apply for the Entrepreneur Visa
For More Information (eligibility, application form, application process, etc) visit: https://www.moeaic.gov.tw/businessPub.view?lang=en&op_id_one=6