TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Legislative Yuan on Monday (June 17) tentatively approved amendments that would allow permanent foreigners to receive certain disability allowances and long-term care services, but failed to reach an agreement on whether a degree can be used to offset minimum residency requirements.
A joint meeting of three committees of the Legislative Yuan considered a proposal to amend the Act on the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Experts (外國專業人才遠攬及僱用法), reported Liberty Times. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Ting-yu said the proposal to amend the law was put forward given that although foreign permanent residents are not legally entitled to social welfare services, they are recruited by Taiwan and may have long-term development prospects within the country.
Wang said the amendments are aimed at creating a “foreigner-friendly living environment” and ensuring the effective use of Taiwan’s social welfare resources. The amendments stipulate that people who have legally resided in Taiwan for a cumulative 10 years and resided in Taiwan for at least 183 days each year are eligible to apply for long-term care services and subsidies in accordance with Articles 50 and 51 of the Act on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Physical and Mental Disabilities (Shingshinshakenbenfuho).
One sticking point is that the Law on Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Talent currently states that time spent studying or living with relatives does not count toward the 10 years of residence. DPP legislators Chiu Yi-ying, Lo Mei-ling and Lai Rui-long have proposed amending Article 14 of the law to allow a certain percentage of time spent studying to count toward the number of continuous years of residence.
However, some lawmakers expressed concern that the proposed amendment would lower the employment barrier for foreigners at the expense of Taiwanese people. KMT lawmaker Hsieh Yifeng suggested that the National Development Council consider how it would affect the employment of Taiwanese people, while KMT lawmaker Cheng Tian-tsai argued that the amendment would affect the rights and interests of indigenous peoples.
Chiu stressed that the amendment only relaxed minimum residency requirements and had no bearing on the domestic job market. But no agreement was reached.
As a result, Chiu announced that Article 14 would be reserved for caucus negotiations, while the remaining clauses of the amendment would pass.