| Legislative： |
1.Promulgated on June 29, 2015
2.Amended on December 18, 2015
3.Amended on April 26, 2017
4.Amended on December 19, 2019 |
| Content： |
1. These directions have been drawn up in relation to the Executive
Yuan’s plan for the promotion of Entrepreneur Visa, to regulate the
qualification examination for the issuing of Entrepreneur Visa.
2. When a foreign national applies for an Entrepreneur Visa, the
examination of the applicant’s qualification for the issuing of an
Entrepreneur Visa shall be conducted by the Investment Commission,
Ministry of Economic Affairs (hereafter referred to as “the Investment
Commission, MOEA”) in consultation with other relevant industry
competent authorities; other agencies may be invited to participate in
joint review where necessary.
3. A foreign national applying for an Entrepreneur Visa must meet
the following criteria:
(1) An individual applicant should comply with at least one of the
following criteria:
a. The applicant has secured investment from a domestic or overseas
venture capital firm, secured investment from the Executive Yuan National
Development Fund Startup Angel Project, or obtained funding of at least
NT$2 million in investment (fund-raising) from a government-approved
domestic, foreign, or international startup fund-raising platform.
b. The applicant has located itself at any point in the past year
or is now located within an international startup innovation park and
project which has been approved by the central or local government; or
in an incubator facility that is approved, directly ran, or recognized by
the central or local government, or has been rated or recognized by the
MOEA as a first-class incubator facility within the past five years.
c. The applicant has been awarded an invention patent in a foreign
country or domestic invention or design patents, or can demonstrate other
evidence of professional expertise.
d. The applicant has won an award in a leading domestic or overseas
business start-up or design competition, or has received approval to the
project of encouraging overseas entrepreneurs to invest in Taiwan from
government.
e. The applicant who once stationed or is now stationing accelerator
facility that is approved by related government institutions.
e. The applicant has ever been shortlisted or awarded in significant
domestic or foreign film festivals.
f. The applicant has ever been granted above NT$2 million subvention for
startup or related project by central government, or has ever been granted
above NT$1 million subvention for startup or related project by local
government.
g. The applicant possesses such other innovation capability as may be
specified or recommended by the central competent authority.
h. The applicant has already established an enterprise with the amount of
investment at least NT$1 million in Taiwan that meets the official criteria
for designation as a business start-up with innovation capability, and been
serving as the legal representative, manager or director of that enterprise.
(2) A team or group applicant:
a. The applicant who has not yet established an enterprise in Taiwan
shall meet with at least one of Items a, b, c, d, e, f, g under Paragraph
(1) above.
b. For the applicant who has already established an enterprise in
Taiwan that meets the official criteria for designation as a business
start-up with innovation capability, the members of the team or group shall
be serving as legal representative, executive officers or managers of the
enterprise, and the members of the team or group shall have invested a
combined total of at least NT$1 million in the enterprise.
4. The term “enterprise that meets the official criteria for designation
as a business start-up with innovation capability” as used in
the previous article refers to an enterprise that has been lawfully
registered under Taiwan’s Company Act or Commerce Registration Act for less
than five years, and meet at least one of the following applies. However,
enterprises that have received additional approval from the central competent
authority shall not be subject to the aforementioned five-year limit:
(1) The applicant has secured investment from a domestic or overseas
venture capital firm, meets the requirements in Article 23-2 of the Statute
for Industrial Innovation, secured investment from the Executive Yuan National
Development Fund Startup Angel Project, or obtained funding of at least NT$2
million in investment (fund-raising) from a government-approved domestic,
foreign, or international startup fund-raising platform.
(2) The enterprise is already listed on the Go Incubation Board for Startup
and Acceleration Firms (GISA, TPEx), Taipei Exchange (TPEx).
(3) The enterprise has either been awarded an invention or design patent
in Taiwan, or been transferred or licensed of invention or design patent rights
by the holder of a Taiwanese invention or design patentee and been registered
with the Intellectual Property Office, MOEA.
(4) The applicant has located itself at any point in the past year or is now
located within an international startup innovation park and project which has
been approved by the central or local government; or in an incubator facility
that is approved, directly run, or recognized by the central or local government,
or has been rated or recognized by the MOEA as a first-class incubator facility
within the past five years.
(5) The enterprise or its legal representative has won an award in a leading
domestic or overseas business start-up or design competition.
(6) The enterprise or its legal representative has ever been shortlisted or
awarded in significant domestic or foreign film festivals.
(7) The enterprise has ever been granted above NT$2 million subvention for
startup or related project by central government, or has ever been granted above
NT$1 million subvention for startup or anything relates to startup by local
government.
(8) The enterprise conforms to such other requirements as may be specified by
the central competent authority.
Regarding the applicable scope of Items b, d, and e of Paragraph (1) of Article 3,
and of Paragraphs (4) to (6) of the preceding Articles, please refer to the
“official criteria for designation as a business start-up with innovation
capability” and the attachments thereto.
5. The concerning documents of Articles 3, 4 and 7, and the industry competent
authorities that must be invited to participate in qualification examination, are
shown in Appendix.
6. Application shall be submitted to one of Taiwan’s overseas representative
offices or to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) along with , the concerning
documents specified in Appendix , as well as a photocopy of a Taiwan R.O.C. visa
application form, and a photocopy of the applicant’s foreign passport or a
photocopy of Alien permanent residence permit; the overseas representative office
or the MOFA will pass the application on to the Investment Commission, MOEA for
examination.
Where an application is submitted by a team or group, the application shall
be submitted by persons who jointly conform to one of the requirements specified in
Paragraph (2) of Article 3 above. If all of the team members conform to the
requirements for submission of an application by a single individual, then they may
submit a joint application on presentation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The number of persons that may be included in a team or group application may not
exceed three persons, except in cases where special permission being given by a
joint-agency approval.
7. Initial validity for an approved Entrepreneur Visa shall not exceed one
year; however, when the applicant’s business enterprise in Taiwan meets at least
one of the criteria listed below, the applicant may apply for an extension. The
applicant shall submit the qualification review documents specified in Appendix to
the Ministry of the Interior, which will forward the application to the Investment
Commission, MOEA for examination. The maximum permitted period of each extension may
not exceed two years:
(1) The sales revenue of the applicant’s enterprise for the most recent year,
or the average for the most recent three years, is at least NT$3 million.
(2) The operating expenses of the applicant’s enterprise for the most recent
year, or the average for the most recent three years, is at least NT$1 million.
(3) The applicant’s enterprise employs at least three full-time Taiwanese
nationality employees.
(4) The applicant’s enterprise can demonstrate some other category of operational
performance that leads the industry competent authority to determine that the
enterprise is making a positive contribution to Taiwan’s economic development.
8. The provisions of these Directions shall apply mutatis mutandis to the
provision of assistance by the MOEA for the examination of applications for resident
visas in order to engage in entrepreneur activity that are submitted by residents of
Hong Kong or Macao to the Ministry of the Interior or to the Mainland Affairs Council
offices in Hong Kong and Macao.
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