International student

Admission for International Students,2025-2026
DILA is a small and peaceful university located in the quiet and scenic seaside mountains of northeastern Taiwan. As a center of Master Sheng Yen’s vision for education, Chan cultivation, and culture, DILA is Dharma Drum’s academic university that offers courses on Buddhist Studies and Humanities and Social Sciences.
Admission schedule
◎ Programs open to International students：
☆ Department of Buddhist Studies：
   Doctoral, Master, and Undergraduate Programs
☆ Master Program in Life Education
☆ Master Program in Social Enterprise and Innovation
◎ Application period: January 15 to March 26,2025
◎ Announcement of application results:
   ◆Undergraduate: April 25,2025
   ◆Master’s & Doctoral: May 9,2025
◎ Mailing of admission documents: May 30,2025
◎ Registration: Mid-September,2025
Admission Information
Admissions Handbook: Handbook(pdf)、Application form(pdf、word)
International Students’ Language Proficiency Requirements(pdf)
Financial Guarantee Statement(pdf)
Admission and Registration(pdf)
Tuition and other expense fees charges and refund standard(pdf)
Scholarship(pdf)
Contact:
International Affairs Section 呂幼如 / Email:luyouru@dila.edu.tw / Tel:886-2-24980707ext 5304

◎ Insurance qualification:
Foreign students who hold residence documents studying in Taiwan must participate in the national healt h insurance in accordance with the law after staying in Taiwan for four months. Please apply for health insurance at the school where you are studying. Contact: Health room of the Academic Affairs Section.
◎ Add insurance:
Foreign students who take part in health insurance for the first time the school will fill out an insurance application form and send it to the district health bureau to apply for insurance. If the student graduates, leaves, or withdraws from school, and immediately departing from Taiwan, they should fill out a withdrawal application form and send to the district health insurance bureau to stop insurance.

◎ RESIDENT VISAS FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS：

【Note】

• Students wishing to study for a degree may apply for a resident visa at the Foreign Office of the Republic of China before departure. If they cannot obtain a resident visa, they can apply for vistor visa and change to resident visa after entry into Taiwan, and then apply for a resident visa and use this visa to apply for alien residence permit. (Foreign students need to apply for a visa at the foreign office of Taiwan before coming to Taiwan to study and apply for a long-term resident permit with a resident visa and an application form and related documents at the Department of Immigration at the Ministry of Interior.)
• Students with a resident visa must apply for an alien’s residence permit within 15 days of arrival. Before applying for the alien residence permit, they need to complete the formalities for admission to the school, obtain a student card or proof of enrollment.

※ Required documents for applying【resident visa】

• A.Original copy of passport with 6 months valid period and photocopies of pages of basic information of passport (including photo).
• B.Visa application pasted with two 2-in color photos.
• C.Original of school admission
• D.Original and photocopy of health inspection qualification certificate
• E.Admission permit/notification or proof of enrollment registration, original and photocopies of transcripts
• F.Original and photocopy of highest educational certificate (including graduation certificate and transcripts)
• G.Original and photocopy of financial support
• H.Other required documents depending on individual cases.
• I.Visa fee:
  • Resident visa fee at NT$2200（USD66）
  • Corresponding handling charge NT$3600（USD100 dollars, currently only applicable for US nationals）.
  • A special handling charge of NT$800 (24 US dollars) for changing stay visa to resident visa.
• J. Host unit: Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan)，Note on Resident Visas for Overseas Chinese Students
  • English website：http://www.boca.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=6139&ctNode=778&mp=2
• K. ROC Visa Application Forms
  • Website:https://visawebapp.boca.gov.tw/BOCA_MRVWeb/subroot/MRVWeb0_form.jsp

◎ Required documents for applying 【Alien Resident Certificates (ARC)】

• A.One copy of application form
• B.Two 2-in color photos
• C.One copy of original and photocopy of passport (passport must have valid period for six months or more with blank pages. Photocopies of basic information pages with photo included).
• D.One original, one photocopy of resident visa.
• E.One original, one photocopy of student certificate or enrollment certificate.
• F.Fee: NTD:1000
• G.Host unit: National Immigration Agency,detail information

◎Application for extension, replacement of ARC of foreign students:

【Required documents】

• I. Application: Fill in one copy of Application form.
• II. Documents for verification:
  • Alien Resident Certificates
  • Submit original of passport, immigration visa （immigration visa is exempted if reason for applying change of residence has changed per provision 2 of Article 23 of this law.）
  • Attached with proof of application for residence purpose (check original, keep copy): student card or school attendance certificate (for the first time an overseas Chinese student has to submit a notification of school admission).
  • Submit one 2.5-in photo with no cap for exchange of certificate (photo specification same as ID card photo)
  • For the replacement of loss certificate, a lost declaration statement or proof of report must be attached.
  • Pay certificate fee: １ year validity for NT$１000, ２ year validity for NT$２000, ３ year validity for NT$３000, for overseas Chinese student NT$500, replacement also NT$500.
  • Power of Attorney: Except for the applicant’s personal delivery, it is necessary to provide power of attorney if entrusting others to send on behalf of the person; if the person is in a foreign country, Hong Kong or Macao, the power of attorney shall be verified by the Taiwan Foreign Office.
• III. Processing: 10 days（pick up alien residence permit with payment receipt）
• IV. Relevant matters:
  • Foreigners entering Taiwan with resident visa must apply for alien residence permit within 15 days of stay.
  • If foreigners require continue staying here, it is necessary to apply for extension of stay within 30 days prior to expiration of stay period.
  • When a foreigner changes his residence address or service address during his/her stay, he/she shall go through the change registration within 15 days of the occurrence.
  • In accordance with provision 2, Article 23 of this law applying for change of stay, it is necessary to file application within 30 days before expiration of the valid period.
  • Documents prepared abroad must be accompanied by Chinese translation and verified by the Foreign Office of ROC. If the local Taiwan foreign office only examines the documents and does not verify the Chinese translation, the Chinese translation must be submitted to a court (or notary) in Taiwan for notarization.
  • For nationals with household registration in Taiwan but enter with foreign passport, it is necessary to apply for stay or extension of stay and go to the civil affairs administration to move out from household registration.
  • Before expiration of stay period, the applicant must leave Taiwan before the deadline if he/she fails to get an alien residence permit for change of stay.
  • Changes in the application for residence in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 23 of this Law shall be limited to the first paragraph (such as relative visiting, employment, investment, etc.), and shall be changed to other reasons of residence (such as attending school, missionary preaching, etc.) However, it is still necessary to contact the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for relevant matters and apply for a residence permit for aliens after obtaining the relevant resident visa.

Foreign Students Enrolled in Taiwanese College of University Taking Part-time Jobs

Qualification

Should a foreign, overseas Chinese, Hong Kong and Macau student been officially enrolled in a school to take courses in a division, department or graduate institute thereof or to take language course(s) for one year or more, the said foreign student may apply for jobs.
※Overseas Chinese students apply for part-time jobs can refer to Article 50 of Employment Services Act and Article 30 to 35 of Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreigners.

Working Time Limit

With the exception of the winter and summer vacations, foreign students’ sum of working hours shall not exceed 20 hours per week.
※The limitation of working hours refers to Article 50 of Employment Services Act

Document Required

Documents required for foreign students, overseas Chinese studnets, and foreign students of Chinese origin work permit application

Remark: If aforementioned information and certification documents are copies, they should be marked with the words: “same as originals” and stamped with the seal of applying for school units. （Applicant shall assume legal responsibly for providing information and documents proven false through investigation）

Application Form

Foreign students shall submit the work permit application through online application system. (https://ezwp.wda.gov.tw)

Notice: According to Article 6-1 of Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers, with legitimate reasons, applicants can still submit paper application after approved by the Ministry. Application Forms (click)

Details Link

Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor(click)

Contact at DILA

Lin-yao Huang
Student Affairs Section
Extention No. 5537
Email: linyao@dila.edu.tw

The fees listed below are applicable only for the current semester and are subject to change. Always refer to the latest fees chart for the actual rates.

The 2022 school year charging standard is as below(per semester):

Tuition: NT$ 22,000
Miscellaneous fee：NT$7,000
Internet access fee: NT$1,000
Student Insurance fee: NT$620
Health insurance fee: NT$4,494
Dormitory fee (twin room): NT$7,500
Deposit of dormitory: NT$1,000
International Student Health Insurance(for the first six months): NT$3,000/per semester
Personal living expenses (food, transportation, books) each year approx. NT$60,000~90,000

Remarks:

Tuition fees are waived for all students enrolled in the Department of Buddhist Studies. Miscellaneous fees are also waived for monastic students enrolled in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (with the exception of the deposit and health insurance). If the student’s overall grades fall under 85 during any given semester, the tuition fee for the semester of the following year will have to be paid by the student in full.

◎ Based on actual published standard of the school year, as reference only below:

Buddhist Studies Department: general students awarded tuition fee, monks awarded all expenses (excluding accommodation deposit). For humanities and social sciences group: general students will be charged on standard fees approved for the year while monks will be awarded tuition fee.

Applications for the Taiwan Overseas Joint Admissions Committee’s academic structure and regional 2019 Fall Class Enrolment applications will be started in mid-November. For information on the academic systems and district application guidelines, please visit the website: “http://www.overseas.ncnu.edu.tw/synopsis.aspx” and download.

【Residency】

◎ Residency application for overseas Chinese students

Host unit: Immigration Department
Website:https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5382/5385/7244/7250/7257/%E5%81%9C%E7%95%99/75374/

◎ Residency application for Hong Kong and Macao students

Host unit: Immigration Department
Website:https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5382/5385/7244/7250/7296/%E5%B1%85%E7%95%99/

【Medical insurance】

For health care of overseas Chinese students, all newly enrolled overseas students who meet the requirements of the Key Points for Overseas Chinese Students Health Insurance Operations and who have not yet met the requirements of the National Health Insurance Law may participate in the medical treatment and injury insurance of the overseas Chinese students for a period of six months.

Insurance premiums are set by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission in consultation with the insurers, and the insurance premiums are subsidized by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission by 50%. (Source: Ministry of Education International and Cross-Straits Education Department National College Campus Overseas Chinese Students Life Information Network:
https://ois.moe.gov.tw/WEB/ocs/html/MedicalInsurance.html)

◎Key points for medical treatment and injury insurance of overseas Chinese students

http://www.ocac.gov.tw/law/LawContent.aspx?id=FL027325

◎ Regulation for overseas Chinese students participating in health insurance and form (Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission)

http://ocs.ocac.net/List.aspx?nodeID=97

【Work permit】

◎Note on overseas Chinese students applying for work while studying in Taiwan and applying for work after graduation

http://ocs.ocac.net/List.aspx?nodeID=56

◎ Taiwan Joint Recruitment Committee  
http://www.overseas.ncnu.edu.tw/
◎ Overseas Chinese students service circle  
https://www.ocac.gov.tw/OCAC/SubSites/Home.aspx?site=c7919548-0bd5-46fd-8684-56d6a4e9623b
◎ Ministry of Education International and Cross-Straits Education Department National College Campus Overseas Chinese Students Life Information Network 
https://ois.moe.gov.tw/WEB/ois/Index.aspx

【Application procedure】

Applicants who apply for the first semester (autumn classes) are requested to submit applications before the end of April each year; those who apply for the second semester (spring class) are requested to submit their applications before the end of September each year. The following documents shall be submitted to the school for approval and transfer to this Section, and upon passing the examination, the Institute will issue a letter of consent for admission to the enrolled student.

【Required documents】

• Admission application form
• Highest academic certificate and transcripts.
• A letter of recommendation from the attending school or a letter of consent.
• Research program.

All of the above documents please sent to the contact person by email, the contact information as below:
Youru Lu(呂幼如) / Email: luyouru@dila.edu.tw / 886-2-2498 0707 ext 5304

【Expense budget】

• Accommodation fee: According to standard school charges, NT$7,500 (double room) per semester.
• Accommodation deposit: NT$1,000 (to be refunded before leaving the dormitory after passing inspection).
• Internet usage fee: NT$1,000
• Personal living expenses: NT$6,000~9,000/month

【Relevant laws and regulations】

※ Implementation Guideline for foreign exchange students studying at Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts

【Application Guidelines】

※ 2021 Fall Exchange Student Application Guidelines (word、pdf)、Applicaiton Form(word)

【Accommodation】
Lodging at school’s Fayin Garden (2-3 person room) and Chanyue Garden (2 person room)

【Transportation】
◎Vehicles shuttling to Taipei
A.Kuo Kuang Coach Route 1815 (Taipei<–>Dhama Drum Mountain).
B.Keelung Coach Route 1068 (Jinshan<–>National Taiwan University)

 ◎Shuttling to Tamshui
A. Tamshui Coach Route 863 (Jinshan<–>Tamshui)
B. Tamshui Coach Route 862 (Keelung<–>Tamshui)