US$23.62m in funding, staff of 100 proposed for new immigrants agency

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) Taiwan's proposed "new immigrant development agency" will have a budget of around NT$700 million (US$23.62 million) and around 100 full-time employees if it is launched in 2026, Vice Interior Minister Wu Tang-an (吳堂安) said Thursday.

According to the New Immigrants Basic Act passed in July 2024, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) oversees the establishment of the agency, which will be a subordinate agency of the MOI.

In a joint committee meeting on Thursday, lawmakers reviewed a proposal to amend the Organization Act of the Ministry of the Interior and the draft organization act of the new immigration development agency, which pertained to the creation of the agency, and inquired Wu about the progress.

According to a written report by the MOI, the agency will oversee planning, research, consultation, coordination, and promotion of services related to education, employment, empowerment, care, and other services as needed by new immigrants.

The MOI has formed a preparatory group for the agency and continues to hold regular meetings to move the establishment forward, according to the report.

However, Wu did not give a definite answer when asked by Taiwan People's Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Chang Chih-lun (張智倫) when preparations for the agency's establishment will be finalized.

Wu said that if the agency is launched next year, it will have a near-100-strong staff and an annual budget of around NT$700 million.

He also said it would be close to Cabinet-level agencies, and that several locations in Taipei and New Taipei are being considered.

"New immigrants" as specified in the act are defined as foreign nationals or stateless individuals who have been afforded residence through marriage with a Taiwanese national, foreign professionals who have been granted a work permit and approved for residence, or Chinese nationals who are granted residency through ad hoc programs.

They also include naturalized stateless persons or foreign nationals, foreigners who obtained residency through their jobs in Taiwan, or foreigners who are afforded residency under certain special circumstances specified in the Immigration Act or the Act Governing Relations between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.

In addition, they encompass the children of members of the above-mentioned groups.