Yes. After you complete graduation and school-leaving procedures, the school reports your graduation to the National Immigration Agency (NIA). Once reported, your ARC enters a countdown to invalidity (typically effective within about 10–14 days). If your ARC is still valid but you want to stay in Taiwan more than 15 days, you must proactively apply for an extension of stay.

Apply as soon as possible after your diploma is issued and before your ARC expires — ideally within 15 days. If you leave Taiwan within 15 days and do not plan to return, you do not need to apply for an extension.

• Overseas Chinese & international students: up to "1 year + 1 year," for a maximum total of 2 years.
• Hong Kong / Macao students: up to "6 months + 6 months," for a maximum total of 1 year.
• Apply at the NIA service station in your area of residence before your current stay expires (ideally within 30 days). Late applications require a valid justification.

Generally required: application form, passport (original + copy), ARC (original + copy), diploma (original + copy), a 2-inch photo, proof of residential address (e.g., lease agreement), and a written statement (name, passport number, ARC number, nationality, reason for extension). Fees differ for Hong Kong/Macao students and ARC holders (approx. NT$300–1,000). Confirm the exact amount and documents with the NIA's latest announcement.

Yes. If you move out of off-campus housing or your originally registered address after graduation, you must apply to the NIA to update your registered residential address.

Under the amended Article 12 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals, new overseas Chinese/international graduates holding an associate degree or higher may work during their NIA-approved extension of stay without a work permit. There's no restriction on the type of work (full-time, part-time, freelance, or internship), and the exemption applies for up to 2 years.

Previously, companies could generally only hire graduates for "professional or technical work," and employers had to meet capital/revenue thresholds. Under the new rules, during the exemption period employers may hire without these job-type or employer-qualification restrictions. The ARC will note "the holder is not required to apply for a work permit" and the applicable period, for the employer's reference.

Once the exemption period expires (max. 2 years), continuing to work in Taiwan requires returning to the standard framework: your employer must apply for a formal work permit through the Points System or the General Qualification System / Professional-Technical Work category.

Not entirely. If a profession requires a separate professional qualification or registration (e.g., a medical license for doctors), you must still obtain it under the relevant regulations. The work-permit exemption does not waive professional licensing requirements.

If you never held a work permit (i.e., you worked under the exemption), resigning does not involve a work-permit change, so in principle no separate report to the NIA is required. However, any change in residency status or period of stay must still follow NIA procedures.

The Points System is a dedicated pathway for overseas Chinese/international graduates to stay and work in Taiwan, introduced by the Ministry of Labor (MOL) in 2014. Rather than relying solely on salary, applicants are scored on 8 criteria: ① education, ② salary, ③ work/internship experience, ④ job qualifications, ⑤ Chinese proficiency, ⑥ other language ability or overseas growth experience, ⑦ government policy, and ⑧ scholarships or academic excellence. The maximum score is 200; 70+ points meets eligibility and exempts the applicant from the general salary threshold (currently about NT$47,971/month).

Overseas Chinese, international, and Hong Kong/Macao students who obtained an associate degree (specific programs) or higher in Taiwan, with an MOL points assessment of 70+. The job must fall under "Foreign Professional Work Category (A): Professional or Technical Work." Some job categories (e.g., tourism/hospitality) have additional salary and internship-hour requirements (e.g., 80+ hours of internship training, initial salary threshold around NT$30,000).

The employer prepares the required documents (including the "Points Assessment Form for Employing Taiwan-Educated Overseas Chinese/Foreign Graduates") and submits online via MOL's Foreign Professional Work Permit Application website. MOL typically completes review within about 7 working days. Students cannot apply for a work permit on their own.

You may apply under the "General Qualification System," following the standard for general foreign professionals: bachelor's degree holders need 2+ years of work experience, or a master's degree or higher, plus a monthly average salary meeting the current threshold (about NT$47,971).

Yes. After obtaining employment approval, apply to the NIA within the required period (usually 15 days) to change your residency purpose from "Other / Extension of Stay" to "Employment."

The Employment Gold Card is a "4-in-1" document (work permit + resident visa + ARC + re-entry permit) under the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals, promoted by the National Development Council (Gold Card Office) and issued by the NIA. The key difference from Sections B and C: the Gold Card is not tied to a specific employer — you don't need a job offer or an employer to apply for you. Once approved, holders may freely job-search, work, take part-time work, start a business, or switch jobs during its validity. The Points System, General Qualification System, and work-permit exemption all remain centered on employment with a specific employer.

Per the official website (goldcard.nat.gov.tw), there are 12 fields: Technology (National Science and Technology Council), Economy (MOEA), Education (MOE), Culture & Arts (Ministry of Culture), Sports (MOE/Sports Administration), Finance (FSC), Law (Ministry of Justice), Architecture (National Land Management Agency), National Defense (MND), Digital (Ministry of Digital Affairs), Biotech (MOEA), and Environment (Ministry of Environment) — plus a "Special Case" category reviewed by the National Development Council. Applicants choose one field and generally only one regulation within it (Architecture is an exception, allowing multiple).

• Technology/Economy commonly require a recent monthly salary of NT$160,000, or a current/former senior tech-industry role; other criteria require 3–8+ years of relevant experience, international awards, patents, or major innovation achievements.
• Finance and Law generally require senior positions, professional licenses, or high-level management experience.
• Education and Digital have a "PhD direct eligibility" exception: a PhD from a university ranked in the top 500 of the latest QS, THE, or US News rankings qualifies directly under Education, with no work-experience requirement.

Per official guidance, holders of certain visa types — APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC), Foreign Labor (FL), Foreign Officials and dependents (FO), Mandarin Training Visa (FR), International Conference/Trade Show Visa (IM), Medical Visa (M), and Working Holiday Visa (WH, except UK nationals on a YM visa) — cannot convert domestically and must apply from abroad or re-enter on another visa. A standard student ARC is not on this exclusion list; however, Gold Card approval still depends on meeting the qualification criteria, and rules may change. We recommend using the official Gold Card Qualification Check before applying, or contacting Gold Card customer service directly (help@taiwangoldcard.tw / +886-2-7733-7660) to confirm the latest rules for your specific visa type.

• Validity: 1, 2, or 3 years, with renewal available within 4 months before expiry.
• Fees: vary by nationality and domestic/overseas application; most nationalities pay about NT$3,700–5,700 domestically (increasing with 1–3 year validity); some nationalities pay more overseas.
• Permanent residency: holders (excluding Hong Kong/Macao nationals) with 3 consecutive years of residency, averaging 183+ days/year, may apply for permanent residency — shorter than the standard 5-year track. A PhD from a Taiwanese university credits 2 years; a master's credits 1 year.
• NHI: holders working as employed professionals, employers, or self-employed — plus dependents — may enroll directly in National Health Insurance, without the usual 6-month wait.

• New graduates with no senior work experience, or a PhD from a non-top-ranked school: generally better to pursue the work-permit exemption and Points System / General Qualification System first — the thresholds fit a new-graduate profile better, and no employer buy-in for the Gold Card's "not employer-tied" arrangement is needed.
• Graduates with a PhD (especially top-500 universities), international awards, patents, entrepreneurial achievements, or substantial work experience: consider the Gold Card for its employer-independence and eligibility for permanent residency after just 3 years.
• The two are not mutually exclusive: work first under the Points System / exemption to build experience, then apply for the Gold Card once qualified.

Yes, but this is a separate benefit for "study periods" — different from the fact that the extension-of-stay/job-seeking period doesn't count:

• Foreign professionals: PhD credits 3 years, master's 2 years, bachelor's/associate degree 1 year (not cumulative).
• Specific foreign professionals: PhD credits 2 years, master's 1 year (not cumulative).

• Extension of stay (work-permit-exempt job-seeking period): does not count toward the 5-year APRC threshold.
• Once you formally obtain a work permit and your residency purpose changes to "Employment": the residency clock starts counting.
• Study-period degree credit: applies per the rule in Q23 (a one-time benefit, calculated separately from employment residency years).

After graduation, apply for an NHI transfer-out form from your school's International Student Affairs office (or your original insuring unit). Once you find a job and your employer enrolls you, coverage transfers to the new insuring unit. If you need medical care during a coverage gap, pay the full cost upfront; after paying outstanding premiums, bring your receipt back to the original hospital/clinic to apply for a refund.

If premiums go unpaid during a coverage gap, the National Health Insurance Administration may later identify the outstanding balance during an audit and issue a demand for payment, requiring you to pay the overdue premiums.

• Delayed graduation: bring proof of delayed graduation to the NIA to apply for an extension of stay. If already interning/working, also apply to the MOL to extend your work permit through the start of the new semester (e.g., September 30).
• Admission to a domestic graduate program: bring your new school's admission notice or proof of enrollment (Hong Kong/Macao students need an extension document from the overseas student affairs unit) to the NIA station in your school's jurisdiction.

Yes. Even if you've already found a job during a delayed-graduation period, you must complete all credits and receive your diploma before formally starting post-graduation employment procedures (whether under a work permit or the work-permit-exempt extension of stay).