Rules on spouses’ finances to be relaxed

MAC spokesman Liu Te-shun said the new relaxed measures, which were drafted by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and have been approved by Interior Minister Liao Liou-yi, will be put into force as soon as the Executive Yuan gives the go-ahead.

Liu quoted an MOI proposal indicating that because some Chinese spouses do not work outside the home because they have to take care of their husband’s elderly family members or young children, the financial solvency proof of families with Chinese spouses should be lowered from the current level of NT$34,560 (US$1,100.64) per month, or twice the country’s minimum wage, to some NT$19,000, or 1.1 times the minimum wage.

The MOI proposed that local families with Chinese spouses should produce documented proof of movable or personal property worth NT$120,000 — a figure much lower than the NT$414,000 — a staggering 24 times the minimum wage — that was put in place over the past four years by the previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, Liu said.

The MOI proposed that local families with Chinese spouses should produce documented proof that they own real estate worth at least NT$800,000, according to Liu.

If the Chinese spouse, her Taiwanese husband or other members of their family have difficulty producing the documented proof, related non-profit organizations could do it for them, so long as the organizations find that the family is not under financial strain, Liu said.

The MOI also proposed the cancellation of a requirement that local families with Chinese spouses should produce documented proof that the household’s savings deposits in financial institutions exceeding NT$414,000 over the most recent one year, Liu added.

Meanwhile, he noted, the Council of Labor is also planning to relax regulations governing Chinese spouses’ employment in Taiwan and their right to work in Taiwan.

According to the MOI, 399,000 foreign spouses were registered in Taiwan as of the end of 2007 — 262,000 from China and 137,000 from other countries. The swinging restrictions do not apply to spouses from other countries.

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