Nationality amendments pass first legislative review

2014-12-19

Revisions to the ROC Nationality Act passed the first legislative reading Dec. 17, paving the way for greater flexibility in recruiting international professionals to Taiwan, according to the Legislative Yuan.

“The amendments aim to address the inadequacies of current law and provide greater protection for the rights of immigrants by marriage,” an official from the Legislature said.

“They are also in line with the spirit of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”

According to the bill, foreign professionals in the fields of the arts, culture, economics, education, sports and technology would not be required to renounce their original nationality while seeking naturalization.

“The regulatory change enabling dual citizenship will help Taiwan’s education and business sectors better attract foreign talent,” the official said.

While this rule applies only to accomplished foreigners recommended by the government, other categories of applicants will also benefit from the change that grants them a year to provide relinquishment of nationality documentation after their application is approved.

Under current law, foreigners need to surrender their original citizenship before applying for naturalization—a requirement rendering them stateless with no guarantee that their cases would be successful.

Immigrants based on marriage who have ROC minors will also be allowed to apply for citizenship in the event of a divorce with or the death of their ROC spouses.

The bill also prescribes a more liberal definition of “no criminal record,” letting those with misdemeanors but no felonies to submit applications provided that they have paid their debt to society for their misconduct.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=225346&CtNode=413)