My last trip out of the country I specifically chose NOT to use the E-gate coming back in just so I could get the stamp in my passport. I knew the DMV would want to see this when I went to get my driver’s license a few weeks ago and I heard of people having trouble because they used the E-gate and didn’t have a recent stamp.
And this is supposed to attract foreign talent? Taiwanese logic again.
Wherever you grt a new ARC, you have to re-register for egate. When I changed my address, they told me I needed to register again, so how would this work with this proposal?
I mean are they really even getting that much from this? I don’t see the point, they really need 3k from people that badly?
They would get 60 million ntd. So about 2 million USD if 20,000 that already registered decide that 3k is worth it and reregister.
Someone is floating the theory that it is in “response” to the US Global Entry Program. This is not the right action in terms of reciprocity because while they do charge 100 USD, they charge both foreigners and US citizens for the expedite entry.
So basically someone here in Taiwan saw the Benjamin Franklin and got greedy…without thinking, as per SOP. Or FUBAR. Your pick.
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I mean 2 million USD is nothing… they’re willing to spend billions in weapons packages, but can’t set up a couple more E gates?
Any problems so far?
I’ve never re-registered for egate and didn’t know I was supposed to. I think I’ve gotten at least one or two new ARCs (not to mention my APRC) since I first registered for egate. Never even thought about re-registering.
Its a money grab that won’t have any impact on their constituents. Simple as that. Given that it doesn’t impact the voting blocs of either Green or Blue, I’d expect to pass but will be pleasantly surprised if it doesn’t.
I’ve used Citizen lines in the past, I’ve never been given any trouble… just like they never give any trouble to ROC nationals for using the ARC “speedy line”.
I am waiting for my updated address APRC, I will try to use it next time without re-registering and report back.
The citizen line also says resident if i’m not wrong.
My hunch is that this is simply government disconnect–one agency pushing for certain priorities, while another agency floating a policy that would push in the opposite direction! Hopefully with some negative press, this money grab will get knocked down.
Guy
I mean we are talking about 2million in the best outlook. The time and money it takes to implement this whole thing is probably more than 2 million. Why is this even considered? This doesn’t help put a dent in the budget at all.
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No, in fact it was an immigration agent that told me I can use the Citizen lane.
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I mean we are talking about 2 million in the best outlook. The time and money it takes to implement this whole thing is probably more than 2 million. Why is this even considered? This doesn’t help put a dent in the budget at all.
I agree. And the fact we are not wasting some immigration agent’s time while using e-gate also clearly saves the MOI money.
Guy
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Plus we are talking about millions of people going in and out of the airport. The less time in the immigration line equals more time people have spending money inside the airport to actually support the airport no?
Yes, especially with TPE (Terminal 2 particularly) currently being way over capacity.
The more I think about it, this proposal just looks dumber and dumber.
Guy
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They’re trying to make it look like it’s a economic move, but it doesn’t even make sense in that department let along the social and diplomatic implications of this.
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Agreed - I’ve gone from ARC to APRC and never had to re-register for e-Gate. Your ID number remains the same, so it shouldn’t make a difference. It may be a different story if your passport has been renewed and you have a new passport number…
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I want to know the thought process. They were talking about the budget for expanding the e-gate and some red faced 55 year old came up with the idea of getting the money from the foreigners. They would only spend it on chasing girls and going to nightclubs anyway
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I have idea. Anyone with a iPhone could have pulled out the calculator app and realized that they would make at best 2 million from this in 5 years time. They could’ve just fired themselves after drafting this and saved more than 2mil in 5 years.
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Do they need to see an actual stamp, or would they also accept a Hong Kong style checkpoint receipt?