Points system for migrant workers entering Taiwan explained

說明外籍移工入臺積分制度

Points based on vaccination status, number of country's COVID cases, and accommodations


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — When Taiwan begins opening its borders to migrant workers later this month, a points system will be used to select which foreign workers will be prioritized for entry into the country.

The Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Nov. 1 proposed a plan in which migrant workers would be allowed into Taiwan this month based on a points system. The points will be allotted based on a migrant worker's vaccination status, the average number of weekly COVID cases in their country, and the type of accommodations provided by their employer.

The point allotment for accommodations will only apply to migrant factory workers, as caregivers live in the same home as their employers. It appears that an equal number of factory workers and caregivers will be allowed to enter Taiwan.

Vaccination status

Nownews on Friday (Nov. 5) reported that foreign workers will receive 55 points for having been inoculated with two doses of a vaccine (or one dose in the case of Johnson & Johnson) that has received a World Health Organization emergency use listing or been granted a Taiwan emergency use authorization. If they have only received one dose of a two-dose vaccine, they will receive 45 points, while those who have not received any doses will not receive any points in this category.

Country's COVID case numbers

The number of cases in the country of origin will be defined as the seven-day average. If the seven-day average of their country is 5,000 or below, the worker will receive 10 points.

Workers who reside in a country that has 5,001 to 10,000 cases per week will receive five points. If the number of confirmed cases per week exceeds 10,000 in a worker's country, they will not receive any points.

Employer accommodations

Accommodations during quarantine are broken down into two classifications, suites and non-suites. Suites are rooms that contain a bathroom, while non-suites are rooms that share a bathroom with other rooms. If a worker's employer provides entire suites to its workers during quarantine, the employee will receive 20 points.

If the employer offers a mixture of suites and non-suites, the worker will get 15 points. If only non-suites are available, the worker will receive 10 points. In addition, the fewer people per room, the higher the points allotted.

In the case of a suite, if there are only one or two people living there, the worker will receive 25 points. Suites with three to four people are worth 15 points, suites of five to six people will earn seven points, and a suite with seven to eight people will garner three points.

As for non-suites, if one or two people share a room, 10 points will be awarded, but if three to four people are there, eight points will be handed out. Five to six people in a non-suite will result in five points, while seven to eight people per room will only result in one point. If there are nine or more people in the same room, no points will be allotted.

Total score

After the points are tallied up, foreign workers with the highest total will be prioritized to enter Taiwan first. Factory workers and domestic caregivers will be assessed separately and allowed entry with a 1:1 ratio.

In the event that workers have the exact same score, priority will be given to those with the earliest visa start date. If the visa start dates are the same, priority will be decided through a random drawing.

The MOL on Nov. 4 announced that it expects to begin allowing migrant workers to enter the country in mid-to-late November, with Indonesians poised to be the first wave of migrant workers after being the first to be banned last year. However, given the expected massive influx of overseas Taiwanese expected to return for the Lunar New Year, the Central Epidemic Command Center has already recommended to the MOL that the entry of migrant workers be restricted from Dec. 14 to Feb. 14 or that the ban be reimposed.