It was back in May at the NIA service centre in Taipei.
Never been there ever since, thank God 
.
I get the joy of not dealing with bureaucracy. In the Big Picture, though, those NIA guys are not that bad!
Guy
Agree, been to NIA only twice and both times everything went smooth and took a very reasonable amount of time. But, unless absolutely necessary, I would prefer rather not paying them a visit.
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On May 1st this year I went to NIA Taipei and they let me sign up for the e gate. I have a marriage ARC but donāt think it makes any difference
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Oh, wait, ok, maybe now I recollect better. I think the sign said egates applications for visitors are suspended. ARC holders could still do it.
Apologies, my bad.
I didnāt know visitors could sign up for e gate
A very few. Australians and Italians can enroll without any pre-requirement, Americans need to have this āGlobal Entryā thing. There were a few more.
We Italians can (could, but I guess will resume on 15-sep with the visa waiver reinstated) use egates in Taiwan even as visitors since we were the first country in the EU to let Taiwanese use egates to enter the Schengen area like EU citizens. So, based on reciprocity, TW extended that to us too here. Very kind of them. Unfortunately could use that only twice before the pandemicš
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If I am always traveling in/out of Taiwan with kids, is there any purpose to enrolling, since minors under 12 (I believe) are ineligible
LOL! You canāt be that much of a wanker if you call yourself a banker wanker
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First, I wish I were a banker haha. Working for a fintech, whilst it is much more fun and interesting, remuneration packages are nowhere near.
Second, better to call yourself a wanker than be called one imo.
I donāt have any experience of travelling with kids, better to check about it.
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kids cant use egate, so if youvare always with them it doesnt matter. i have one and use it when traveling for work, but only then.
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Stupid question, but do you guys use the passport or the ARC at the egate?
When I left Taiwan, I tried the passport but the employee told me I should use the ARC. I then got stuck in the gateā¦
Also, which fingers do you use?
For the egate, I think they scanned my index fingers - but the regular immigration counter checked the thumbs (after freeing me from the gateā¦) 
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Use your A(P)RC. Thereās no fingerprint check in the eGate machines (at least when I used them)āitās facial recognition.
Guy
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Really need two photos?
Just used the egate successfully today 
Like you said: I had to use the ARC - and no fingerprints required. There was a fingerprint reader inside the gate though - so I would assume the fingerprints work as some sort of backup if the facial recognition fails to work.
Just some minor issue: I first tried to use one of the ānewā egates (they looked more modern) but they failed to read my Gold Card. The employee directed me to an older model (so it seems) and that one worked. Not sure if just bad luck or some general issueā¦
Congrats! Iām glad that worked out.
The new machines do seem more finicky than the old ones. For me, they were not easier to use!
Guy
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Sorry if I missed this mentioned above. But is there a way to register for the E-Gates at the airport? Before my departure flight?
yes, but take into consideration there could be a line of people with long waiting time. Going to the NIA will probably be faster.
Can anyone confirm if the Egate is currently working/in effect? I think they had stopped during COVID.
Egates are working, when I landed 2 weeks ago the NIA counter for Egates enrolment at T1 in Taoyuan was still closed though (might have opened now after 13-Oct).
Had just personally a slight issue since I apparently need to re-enroll to the services. So if you enrol without an ARC to use Egates (some passports, like Italian ones, can do that even for tourism) and then you get an ARC, you need to re-enrol since your status changesā¦ Even if the passport is the same. Very clever system!
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You can use card or passport.
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