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Can you sit on a board there?
Pick a market. You get the residency test, the nationality test, the work-authorisation position, the appointment steps in order, and the frictions that actually delay appointments — each cited to the instrument that creates it.
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Open to foreign directorsTW
No nationality or residency test applies to a director. Language and the pace of technology-sector board work are the practical constraints.
- Residency test
- None.
- Nationality test
- None.
- Work authorisation
- A non-resident independent director attending board meetings does not require a work permit. Executive and resident roles do, under the Employment Service Act.
- Board language
- Board papers are commonly in Mandarin, though interpretation is provided at internationally exposed technology issuers.
- Tenure limit once appointed
- Three consecutive three-year terms — nine years, after which the seat must change hands.
- Time commitment
- Typically 6–12 board meetings a year plus audit-committee cycles; Taiwanese boards meet frequently and audit committees more so.
- What a seat pays
- TWD 1m – 3m a year for an independent director of a listed company, with the largest technology and financial groups above that range.
- Tax on your fees
- Directors' remuneration from a Taiwanese company is Taiwan-source income with withholding for non-residents.
The appointment steps, in order
- 1Nomination under the candidate-nomination system, which listed companies are required to use, with the shareholding and qualification particulars filed in advance
- 2Election by shareholders, with independent directors elected under the candidate-nomination system
- 3Company registration of the appointment with the Ministry of Economic Affairs
- 4Filing of the independence declaration and the qualification evidence required by the FSC regulations
What actually gets in the way
- The candidate-nomination system runs to a filing deadline before the shareholders' meeting; missing it excludes a candidate for a year
- Board papers are commonly in Mandarin, though interpretation is provided at internationally exposed technology issuers
- The nine-year cap makes a Taiwanese seat a defined-horizon commitment
- Semiconductor and defence-adjacent issuers may raise export-control and national-security considerations for a foreign appointee
The instruments behind these answers
- Securities and Exchange Act art. 14-2 — Requires listed companies to appoint independent directors — at least two, and not fewer than one fifth of the board — and limits an independent director to three consecutive terms. (Financial Supervisory Commission)
- Securities and Exchange Act art. 14-4 — Requires an audit committee composed entirely of independent directors, with at least three members, at least one of whom has accounting or financial expertise. The audit committee replaces the supervisors under the older model. (Financial Supervisory Commission)
- Company Act — Governs company formation and director duties. Directors owe a duty of loyalty and the duty of care of a good administrator, and there is no nationality requirement for a director. (Ministry of Economic Affairs)
- TWSE / TPEx Corporate Governance Best Practice Principles and listing rules — Require board diversity policies and disclosure, including gender representation, and set expectations on board evaluation, succession and sustainability oversight. (TWSE and TPEx)
Reviewed against primary sources in September 2026. This is governance decision-support, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and transitional provisions frequently apply — verify against the primary instrument before you rely on it.
Eligibility is only the first question
Being allowed to sit on a board there is not the same as being read for one.
The mobility index answers the second question: whether your record is legible to a board in that market, whether you hold what it is currently short of, and whether you can do the job in the language its board works in.