Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-22
By: CNA
Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) launched an app on Sunday that enables organizations
User interface of the resident-certificate checking app launched by Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency. (Photo/Chang Chi-chun)
to quickly check if a resident certificate presented by a foreign national when applying for a job or opening a bank account is valid.
In the past, employers had to verify the residency status of a potential foreign employee with the NIA before it could proceed with the hiring process, but that can now be done through an app on the phone, the NIA said.
The app will also speed up the process for foreign residents who want to open bank accounts or handle other matters requiring them to present their resident certificate, it said.
After downloading the app on either an Android or iOS platform, the user can scan the bar code on the foreign national’s resident certificate and enter its serial number and other information to immediately confirm the certificate’s validity, the NIA said.
The app also allows users to check the photo of a foreign resident shown on his or her resident certificate.
The certificates are issued to foreign nationals as well as Taiwan nationals who are residents of the country but do not possess a Taiwan national ID card.
As of April this year, there were more than 620,000 foreign nationals living in Taiwan who held resident certificates.
