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Taiwan's 1955 Hotline for Migrant Workers: When to Call and What Happens Next

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By iStart Editorial Team·Published October 11, 2026

Taiwan's 1955 Hotline for Migrant Workers: When to Call and What Happens Next

The pay slip comes up short again. The overtime nobody agreed to keeps growing. The agency adds a charge you don't understand, and when you try to raise it, the words won't come out right in Chinese. You wonder who you could even ask.

There is a number built for exactly this moment: 1955. It is a free government hotline for any foreign worker here, open day and night. A worker who calls is not asking for a favour. They are using a right the system set up for them.

What 1955 Is, and Who Answers

The number is simply 1955, four digits. The Ministry of Labor set it up on 1 July 2009 as a 24-hour consultation and protection hotline for foreign workers. You can dial it from a mobile, a landline or a public phone, and every call is free, every day of the year.

Any foreign worker can call, and so can employers and manpower agencies, the Workforce Development Agency says. That matters: the hotline can provide an interpreter when you and your employer need one.

Languages are where we want you to go in with clear eyes. The Ministry of Labor lists Chinese, English, Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese for answering calls. Tagalog is not on that list, so plan to start in English. Filipino appears in the interpretation service instead: a 2019 Workforce Development Agency notice describes Filipino-speaking staff and interpretation in Filipino, so ask for it.

When to Call 1955

Call to ask a question or to make a complaint about anything related to your work. You do not need to be sure it breaks a law first. According to the hotline's own service page and Taipei City's labor office, it handles:

  • questions about your labor contract, wages, working hours or an occupational accident
  • charges from your agency that you don't understand
  • a labor dispute with your employer, or unfair treatment
  • legal problems that grow out of that dispute, through its legal aid service
  • mistreatment, physical assault or human trafficking, with protection and placement services
  • a live online interpreter for health care, work or daily life
  • contacts for the National Immigration Agency and the police

If you are in danger right now, call 110 first, the emergency number the Hsinchu County Police Bureau lists beside 1955.

We keep seeing the same pattern among Filipinos who build long careers abroad: they save 1955 on day one and read their contract just as early. Knowing where protection is before you need it is part of being ready. One hard employer is a chapter in a career abroad, not the whole story, and a worker who knows their rights is better placed to write the next one.

What Happens After You Call

Not every call opens a case: a question gets advice from 1955's consultation service, while a complaint is referred on, and 1955 does not decide it. For a dispute or unfair treatment, the Workforce Development Agency says the hotline refers your case to the labor department of your local city or county government, or to the police, for handling under the law.

Diagram: what happens after you call Taiwan's 1955 hotline. A question gets advice from the consultation service and ends there; a complaint about a dispute or unfair treatment is referred to the local city or county labor department or the police and handled there under the law — 1955 does not decide it.

Depending on your needs, that local labor department decides whether to provide temporary relocation. The Ministry of Labor says local Foreign Workers Consultation Service Centers help settle disputes and recover salaries, placement fees, savings and tax returns an employer illegally took.

Nobody can promise the result. What follows depends on the facts and the law, so keep dates, amounts and photos of your pay slips. You can also submit an application for mediation directly to your city or county government's Foreign Workers Consultation Service Center, in person, by phone or in writing.

A Filipino worker sits at a small table writing dates and amounts in a notebook beside his pay slip.

Where MECO and Your MWO Fit

MECO, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, is the Philippine Representative Office in Taiwan, not an embassy. Since 1 July 2023, under Republic Act No. 11641, assistance cases for OFWs are handled by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) through its Migrant Workers Offices (MWOs) in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. MECO's Assistance to Nationals page lists each office's numbers, including an emergency hotline.

If you are a Filipino migrant worker, your case sits with your MWO. MECO's own Assistance to Nationals desk serves a Filipino who is not an OFW, such as a new immigrant or a student.

The Ministry of Labor adds that your sending country's office can help with emergencies, labor disputes or sexual harassment, and sends every appeal it receives straight on to the labor authorities here. If the trouble began with the agency that deployed you, start with filing a complaint against a recruitment agency in the Philippines.

Before You Need It: A Five-Minute Checklist

  • Save 1955 in your phone, and 110 for emergencies
  • Look up the address of your local consultation service center
  • Save your MWO's emergency number from MECO's page
  • Keep photos of your contract, pay slips and agency receipts
  • Write down dates, hours and amounts when something feels wrong
  • Before your next contract, verify that the agency is licensed
  • Compare the other countries in our guide to where Filipinos work abroad

The Questions Filipinos Ask Us Most

What is the hotline number for foreigners in Taiwan? For a foreign worker with a work problem, it is 1955, open at any hour. For general questions about living here, the National Immigration Agency's hotline for foreigners is 1990 from inside Taiwan.

Can I speak Tagalog when I call 1955? The hotline's own service page lists Chinese, English, Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese. Tagalog is not on it, though a 2019 agency notice describes interpretation in Filipino, so ask for it.

Can my family call 1955 from the Philippines? Calls from any mobile, landline or public phone in Taiwan are free, but the hotline's own page gives no number for calling it from abroad. From home, your family can reach your MWO through MECO's page, or call the DMW on 1348.

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