Taiwan and the US Congress

Banned2 naturalized US Congress members

Only ROC (Taiwan) citizens may vote. Non-citizen foreign residents have no voting rights at any level.

Non-citizen voting banned

The Taiwan-to-Congress story

Taiwan has produced 2 naturalized citizens who went on to serve in the US Congress — 2 in the House of Representatives and 0 in the Senate. 1 is currently serving, while 1 has completed their congressional careers. The first of them entered Congress in 1999, during the late twentieth century; the most recent arrived in 2015, during the modern Congress. Collectively they represented 2 different US states — a reminder that naturalized-citizen members of Congress come from every region of the country, not a single immigrant gateway.

Taiwan reserves the ballot for its own citizens: non-native-born residents cannot vote in any election there, no matter how long they have lived in the country. Specifically: Only ROC (Taiwan) citizens may vote. Non-citizen foreign residents have no voting rights at any level.

Every Taiwan-born member tracked here has served as Democrats. That produces a striking asymmetry with the United States, which not only naturalized this member but then elected them to help write federal law. A naturalized American who returned to Taiwan would have no such political voice there. Across the full history of the US Congress, Taiwan ranks 15th of 38 tracked birth countries, accounting for 2 naturalized-citizen lawmakers.

Put plainly: a person born in Taiwan can be entrusted by American voters with a seat in the US Congress, writing federal law for hundreds of millions of people. Yet the same person, if they returned to Taiwan, would be barred from casting even a single ballot there. That is the contrast this tracker exists to surface.

2Total members
1Currently serving
2House
0Senate

Currently serving

Historical members(1)

Frequently asked questions

Can a naturalized US citizen born in Taiwan serve in the US Congress?

Yes. The US Constitution requires only that a Representative be a US citizen for at least seven years and a Senator for nine years; there is no birth-country restriction. Every member listed above met that standard.

Does Taiwan allow naturalized or non-native-born residents to vote?

Banned. Only ROC (Taiwan) citizens may vote. Non-citizen foreign residents have no voting rights at any level.

How many members of the US Congress were born in Taiwan?

2 in total across the years tracked — 2 in the House and 0 in the Senate. Of those, 1 is still serving today.