In late January, Legislative Yuan member Apollo Chen held a press conference to plead the case for giving permanent residency rights to Doris Brougham and other foreigners who long ago put down roots in Taiwan. Both ruling and opposition parties agreed that the issue was worthy of prompt attention, and later President Chen Shui-bian and interior minister Yu Cheng-hsien also publicly expressed their support. After three months of effort, the Legislative Yuan passed the necessary amendments to the Immigration Law. This marked a successful conclusion to the campaign to gain permanent residency for deserving people to whom it had been previously denied.

Not just visitors

Dr. Doris Brougham, who has lived in Taiwan for 50 years, has been named a "Good People and Exemplary Deeds" representative, has received a Distinguished Teacher Award and a Golden Tripod Award (for achievement in publishing), and in 1996 was made an honorary citizen of Taipei City. But for all these years, Dr. Brougham's residency in Taiwan has been based on a work permit and resident visa that required annual renewal.

To highlight the issue of foreigners' residency in Taiwan, at the press conference Doris Brougham displayed the first work permit she obtained in Taiwan. It dates from 1952, and bears the words "Tanshui, Formosa."

"Doris wasn't speaking out for her own benefit, because however great the inconvenience, she was used to it," says Alex Wu, director of the Heavenly Melody Arts and Media Center at Studio Classroom publishers Overseas Radio and Television Inc. Wu explains that many of Studio Classroom's foreign teachers who are so familiar to students, such as Vickie Pettis and Hazel Johansen, have been working in Taiwan for more than a decade. Like Dr. Brougham they have to suffer the same inconvenience, but they have never complained.

When the ROC's Immigration Law was promulgated in 1999, it offered foreign nationals the right of permanent residency for the first time. But the conditions were that at the time of applying, a foreigner had to have accumulated "seven years of continuous lawful residency," during which time they had to have been in Taiwan for at least 270 days each year. In other words, an applicant could not have left Taiwan for more than three months in any of the previous seven years. For many foreigners working long-term in Taiwan, this was a tall order.

For example, Doris Brougham is the leader of the Heavenly Melody choir, which she often takes on performance tours overseas; she also frequently travels abroad to attend international conferences on language teaching. Thus she does not always spend 270 days a year in Taiwan.

A symbolic courtesy

"Our Immigration Law was too strict, and allowed no room for discretion. Officials in the executive branch also understood that the problem could only be resolved by amending the law," says legislator Apollo Chen's assistant Chen Yi-hsin. Through the joint efforts of Apollo Chen and fellow legislator Tsai Huang-lang in promoting the amendments, they were finally passed on 23 May.

The amended law provides that foreign nationals may apply for permanent residency if they have lawfully resided in Taiwan for the last seven years and spent at least 183 days (about six months) in Taiwan in each of those years, or if they have lawfully resided in Taiwan for at least 20 years before the amendment took effect, and were in Taiwan for at least 183 days in any ten of those years. But even without the requisite number of years, a person who has made a special contribution to Taiwan, or is a needed high-tech specialist, may be granted permanent residency if approved by an impartial screening committee convened by the Ministry of the Interior.

The amendments also relax the rules for granting permanent residency to the foreign spouses and children of Taiwan-resident ROC citizens. The basic requirement of five years' continuous residency is unchanged, but the alternative requirement of being resident in Taiwan for 183 days in eight of the last 15 years is reduced to 183 days in five of the last ten years.

To Taiwan with love

Because the Immigration Law was previously too restrictive, many missionaries and medical staff who had spent half their lives in Taiwan and done a great deal for the country were unable to obtain permanent residency.

For instance, Norwegian medical missionary Bjarne Gislefoss in 1952 made the arduous three-month sea voyage from Norway to Taiwan. After working at the Mackay Memorial Hospital and the Hsinchuang Leprosarium, in 1955 he joined the Christian Health Care Clinic for Mountain Areas, which later became Puli Christian Hospital. In 1963 he married the Norwegian-American physician Alfhild Jensen. Together, the couple helped the government pursue its polio immunization program, and made a great contribution to the eventual virtual eradication of polio, leprosy and tuberculosis in Taiwan. In both 1992 and 1993 the Gislefosses received national Medical Dedication Awards, and in 1996 they were awarded the Order of the Brilliant Star with Violet Grand Cordon-the ROC's highest civilian honor-and were made honorary citizens of Puli Township.

At the end of last year, Puli Christian Hospital applied for permanent residency on behalf of "Grandma" and "Grandpa" Gislefoss, but the application was refused because they did not meet the requirement for the number of days' residency per year.

Lo Huo-hsiang, a specialist with the National Police Administration's Foreign Affairs Department, explains that since the Gislefosses retired, they have taken advantage of the warmer spring and summer weather in Scandinavia to return to Norway and visit their families. Because of the distance involved, they often stay there for six months, and so were unable to meet the conditions for the number of days spent in Taiwan.

A similar situation applied to the American missionary couple Ted and Beverly Skiles, who founded the Home of God's Love orphanage in Ilan County.

The Skileses first set foot in Taiwan in 1968. They began studying Mandarin Chinese, started up a Bible study class in English, and made many friends. In 1975, they founded the Home of God's Love. In the past 27 years, they have given shelter and assistance to over 200 disadvantaged children.

Taiwan thanks you

Giving permanent residency to these missionaries and medical staff who have amply demonstrated their love for Taiwan is not only a courtesy, but also spares them the inconvenience of applying for resident visas every year.

Joyce McMillan came to Taiwan in 1960. She founded the Happy Christian Homes at Erhlin in Changhua County, which have been caring for orphans for over 40 years. McMillan has devoted half her life to the children of Taiwan, but she is now aged 89, and her memory is not what it used to be. Last year she forgot to renew her alien resident certificate on time, and as a result she was fined NT$10,000 and was ordered to leave Taiwan and return to America to renew her visa. To comply with the law, in April last year Joyce McMillan went back to the US, accompanied by a Taiwanese friend.

The staff at Happy Christian Homes could not bear to see "Granny" being forced to travel back and forth in this way, and lobbied the Ministry of the Interior to take notice of the issue of permanent residency for people like her who have made special contributions to Taiwan. Their wishes were answered when McMillan became the third foreigner to receive permanent residency rights under the new "special contribution" rule.

The first seven to be granted permanent residency in this way also included nursing expert Marjorie Bly from the US state of Missouri. Forty-seven years ago, Bly came to Penghu to look after leprosy victims. Because of her fair skin, the people of Penghu respectfully called her "Miss White" (her Chinese name is Pai Pao-chu-literally "White Precious-Pearl). They regard her as a precious pearl given by heaven to the people of Penghu, and as the medical guardian angel of the archipelago.

Roots in Taiwan

According to figures from the National Police Administration, since the possibility of permanent residency in Taiwan was introduced two years ago, over 500 people have acquired permanent residency rights. The largest numbers are Japanese, Malaysians and Americans, who together account for almost half. The NPA also estimates that around 937 people newly qualify for permanent residency under the amended Immigration Law. The largest group among them are the foreign spouses and children of ROC citizens.

For long-term foreign residents of Taiwan, one advantage of acquiring permanent residency is that they can then apply to the Council of Labor Affairs for an "open" work permit. This allows them to do any kind of work, so that they no longer need to have an employer apply for a work permit on their behalf. But the NPA's Foreign Affairs Department reminds those wishing to apply for permanent residency that they must still remain within Taiwan for at least 183 days per year, otherwise they will lose their permanent resident status.

The Ministry of the Interior's issuance of permanent residency certificates to religious and medical personnel such as Bjarne Gislefoss is a courtesy extended in recognition of the Taiwanese public's gratitude to them, for they have long since made Taiwan their second homeland. The relaxation of the conditions for permanent residency for long-term foreign residents is based on humanitarian considerations, and may make them more willing to choose to "keep their roots in Taiwan."

p.075

Legislator Apollo Chen's efforts to win permanent residency rights for Doris Brougham, Bjarne Gislefoss and other foreigners who have devoted themselves to the people of Taiwan for many years, have finally been crowned with success. (courtesy of Doris Brougham)

p.076

In early June, the Ministry of the Interior presented permanent residency certificates to seven foreigners in recognition of their special contributions to Taiwan. As well as Doris Brougham, they included (from left to right) Bjarne and Alfhild Gislefoss, Ted and Beverly Skiles, Joyce McMillan, and Marjorie Bly.

p.076

(photo by Teng Hsiang-yang)

p.076

(courtesy of Ted Skiles)

p.076

(courtesy of Liberty Times)

p.077

(courtesy of Liberty Times)