Certificate of sponsorship for the youth mobility scheme (Taiwan only)

This page explains how Taiwanese young people can obtain a certificate of sponsorship so that they can apply for a visa under Tier 5 (Youth mobility scheme) of the UK's points-based system for immigration.

Citizens of other countries that participate in the youth mobility scheme do not need to obtain a certificate of sponsorship before they can apply under the scheme. You can find more information about the youth mobility scheme, which is part of Tier 5 of the UK's points-based system for immigration, in the Tier 5 (Youth mobility scheme) page.

How to apply for a certificate of sponsorship

Before you can apply for a visa under the youth mobility scheme as a Taiwanese passport holder, you must obtain a certificate of sponsorship from Taiwan's National Youth Commission.

To be eligible for a certificate of sponsorship, you must:

• hold a valid National ID card; and
• be between 18 and 30 years old; and
• (if you are male) have completed your required period of military service.

To be considered for a certificate of sponsorship, you must first register online through the National Youth Commission website. Registration is usually open from 1 December every year for a short period of time.

When you have registered, you must print off the registration form and send it to the National Youth Commission with a copy of your National ID card and (if you are male) evidence that you have completed your required period of military service. Registration forms and additional documents must arrive at the National Youth Commission by its deadline. The National Youth Commission website contains details of registration dates and deadlines.

A total of 1,000 certificates of sponsorship are available every year:

• If there are more than 1,000 eligible registrations, a computer program will randomly select 1,000 who will be allocated certificates of sponsorship.
• If there are 1,000 eligible registrations or fewer, everyone who registers and meets the criteria will be allocated a certificate of sponsorship. A further registration period will begin later in the year for the remaining certificates to be allocated.

The National Youth Commission will notify you by email if you have been allocated a certificate of sponsorship. The Commission will also publish a list of successful applicants on its website when the allocation is complete.

There will be a new allocation of places on the youth mobility scheme for Taiwanese applicants every year. So if you are not allocated a certificate of sponsorship this year, you can register again next year if you are still eligible.

Using your certificate of sponsorship

If you are allocated a certificate of sponsorship, you should apply for a Tier 5 (Youth mobility scheme) visa within 3 months of the date when the certificate is allocated. After 3 months, an unused certificate of sponsorship will expire, and will be reallocated.

In addition to providing your certificate of sponsorship, you will need to pass a points assessment and meet other requirements when you apply for your visa. The Can you apply? page contains more information.

To find out how to make your visa application, see the Applying for a visa page. You must be in Taiwan when you apply. As part of your application, you will need to attend the visa application centre in Taipei. When you receive confirmation of your certificate of sponsorship, you will be sent details of how to book an appointment at the visa application centre.

Enquiries

If you have an enquiry about the youth mobility scheme in Taiwan, you can contact the visa enquiries service in Taiwan run on our behalf by VFS Global.