In short
For a white-collar job in Taiwan, your employer applies for the work permit, and you qualify with a master’s degree, or a bachelor’s degree plus more than two years of related experience, among four routes in the official standards. The Ministry of Labor page states a minimum monthly salary of NT$47,971 (page last updated October 2021, so check the current figure). School teachers apply through the Ministry of Education instead.
Last updated: 25 October 2026. This guide is based on the Taiwan Ministry of Labor English page, the official Qualification and Review Standards (Ministry of Justice database, last amendment listed 1 August 2024) and the EZ Work Taiwan portal, all read on 25 October 2026. Salary thresholds and rules change: check EZ Work Taiwan, or ask the Taiwan representative office that covers your country, before you resign from a job or book flights.
A Taiwan work permit for foreigners is issued by the Ministry of Labor, and in the standard route your employer applies for it, not you. For a white-collar job (the “specialized or technical work” category), the usual test is a bachelor’s degree plus two years of related experience, or a master’s degree, and a monthly salary of at least NT$47,971 according to the ministry’s own page. Teachers, investors, sports coaches and artists follow different rules.
This guide explains who qualifies, which alternatives exist if you do not have two years of experience, and what a realistic job search looks like. It does not repeat our guides on the Taiwan Employment Gold Card (the open permit you apply for yourself) or teaching English in Taiwan.
Taiwan work permit for foreigners: who applies?
In the employer-sponsored route, the Taiwanese employer files the application, which is why you first need a job offer. The EZ Work Taiwan portal lists the kinds of work open to foreign professionals in seven groups:
- Specialized or technical work
- Investors or managers of an approved business
- Teachers
- Foreign-language teachers at cram schools
- Sports coaches and athletes
- Arts and entertainment work
- Contract personnel
One detail that catches people out: the portal notes that school teaching positions have been handled by the Ministry of Education since 8 February 2018, not the Ministry of Labor. Cram-school (buxiban) teachers stay under the Ministry of Labor. Our Taiwan teaching guide covers that side.
Who qualifies for specialized or technical work?
The rules sit in the Qualification and Review Standards for foreigners working under Article 46 of the Employment Service Act. Article 5 gives four options, and you need to meet one:
| Route | What you need |
|---|---|
| Certificate | A professional or technical certificate obtained through the relevant examination rules |
| Degree and experience | A master’s degree or higher, or a bachelor’s degree plus more than two years of related work experience |
| Multinational transfer | More than one year of work at a multinational company, then assigned to a post in Taiwan |
| Specialist | Professional training or self-study, more than five years of related experience and outstanding performance |
The official database also records two exemptions: the two-year experience requirement for the degree route can be waived by agreement with the competent authorities, and startups recognized as innovative are not held to the five-year requirement.
“Related” matters. Your degree and experience should match the job you are hired for, because the permit is granted for a specific position. Architecture, civil engineering, manufacturing and academic research are among the 15 fields the standards list for this category.
What about graduates of Taiwanese universities?
The Ministry of Labor page says foreign graduates of Taiwanese universities are not required to have two years of work experience, and that the salary bar for them is lower: an average monthly salary of NT$37,619 or above. That page was last updated on 18 October 2021, so confirm the current figure on EZ Work Taiwan.
How much salary do you need?
The ministry page states that foreigners in these jobs “must receive a monthly salary of at least NT$47,971”. A June 2022 article from a Taiwanese education publisher, UNews, gives the same figure for the degree-plus-experience route. Two cautions:
- Both sources are a few years old. The government can raise the figure, so ask the employer which number it is using.
- The legal text we read does not give a figure in Article 5; the threshold is published by the authorities separately. If your offer is close to the line, ask the employer to confirm in writing that it meets the current minimum.
To put it in context, NT$47,971 per month is NT$575,652 per year before tax, if you simply multiply by twelve. Whether that is comfortable depends on the city and your lifestyle, and we do not have a reliable source for Taiwan living costs.
The job search: what we can and cannot say
The permit rules are only half the story. You need an employer willing to sponsor you, and employers have their own conditions to meet. We have not found an official page we can cite for the employer-side thresholds, so we leave them out rather than repeat numbers from commercial guides.
On SilkPath, Taiwan has fewer listings than mainland China or Hong Kong. In our feed of 25 October 2026, the 10 most recent listings included none in Taiwan, and at the time of our Gold Card article only 3 of the 10 recent listings were in Taiwan. We therefore do not give a count or an average salary for Taiwan: the sample is too small to mean anything. You can see what is live today on our Taiwan jobs page and the Taipei page.
What we can say from the rules:
- Tech, engineering and research roles fit the “specialized or technical” definition most clearly, so they are the easiest category to justify to the authorities.
- Teaching has its own route (cram schools via the Ministry of Labor, schools via the Ministry of Education).
- If you have a Taiwanese degree, the lower salary bar and the experience waiver make you a cheaper hire to sponsor.
- If you do not have an employer yet, a Gold Card may suit you better. See the Gold Card guide.
Step by step
This is the order that follows from the rules above. The detailed document list is on EZ Work Taiwan, which we could not read in full from our tools, so confirm each step there.
- Check your route. Degree plus experience, a master’s degree, a transfer, or a certificate.
- Find an employer that hires foreigners in your field. Our job boards guide is China-focused, but the same logic applies: use English-language boards and LinkedIn, and filter for companies that say they sponsor.
- Agree the salary in line with the current minimum.
- The employer applies to the Ministry of Labor for the work permit.
- Then the visa and residence permit. After approval, you get the right visa and, if you stay longer than the visa allows, a residence permit through the National Immigration Agency. We have not read the NIA pages in full, so check the timing with the representative office.
Do not resign from your current job before the approval is in your hands.
Taiwan or somewhere else in Greater China?
If you are weighing options, our guides compare how other places handle foreign hiring: work visa in China, the China points system and the Hong Kong work visa. Taiwan’s rules are simpler to describe (four routes, a salary floor) but the job market for foreigners is smaller, so many people look at several places at once. For general advice on finding employers, see how to get hired as a foreigner.
FAQ
Is there a Taiwan work permit for foreigners without a job offer?
Not through the standard route, because the employer files the application. The alternative is the Employment Gold Card, which you apply for yourself if you meet one of its criteria. See our Gold Card guide.
What is the minimum salary for a work permit in Taiwan?
The Ministry of Labor page says at least NT$47,971 per month for foreigners in specialized or technical jobs, and NT$37,619 for graduates of Taiwanese universities. The page was last updated in October 2021, so check the current figure on EZ Work Taiwan.
Do I need a degree to work in Taiwan?
For the degree route you need a bachelor’s degree plus more than two years of related experience, or a master’s degree. There is also a route for people without a qualifying degree: professional training or self-study, more than five years of related experience and outstanding performance. That route is judged case by case.
Does Taiwan have a points system for work permits?
Some commercial guides describe a 70-point system for certain applicants. The Ministry of Labor page we read does not mention one, and we could not confirm it on an official page, so we do not rely on it. Check EZ Work Taiwan.
Who issues the work permit for teachers in Taiwan?
School teachers apply through the Ministry of Education (since 8 February 2018), according to EZ Work Taiwan. Cram-school foreign-language teachers are in the Ministry of Labor’s list. See teaching English in Taiwan.
Sources
- Ministry of Labor, Taiwan, foreign white-collar workers (English page, last updated 18 October 2021): english.mol.gov.tw
- Qualification and Review Standards for Foreigners Engaging in Work Specified in Article 46 of the Employment Service Act (Ministry of Justice, Laws and Regulations Database): law.moj.gov.tw
- EZ Work Taiwan, Workforce Development Agency (categories of work open to foreign professionals): ezworktaiwan.wda.gov.tw
- UNews, work permit salary and experience criteria (7 June 2022): unews.com.tw
