…and now also for travelers arriving from UK, so very interested to learn more about the arrangements in advance of - and during - the stay at this facility. Anyone?
Here’s what I went through, if you have any other questions feel free to hit me up:
Airport arrival
- Off the plane, straight to a waiting area where you will fill up some health declaration forms.
- Your group will be guided to the immigration.
- Your group will be guided straight to the bus. This short walk is your only chance to buy a mobile sim. You will not be passing by any ATM so your card better work abroad or you better have NTD cash with you.
- The bus will take you straight to the quarantine facility.
Facility arrival
- Fill up more health declaration forms.
- They’ll ask you if you have any food allergies (or preference, I’m not a fan of certain food items so I listed them as my allergies).
- You need to install LINE as the staff will use it to communicate with you.
I do not know if there’s more than one quarantine facility, but the one that I was sent to was in Changhua - close to the Changhua HSR Station - in a military training complex.
I was monitoring arrivals from the Philippines to see if there’s a corresponding bus later that day as well but that wasn’t always the case, so I assume there’s more than one (or perhaps there are other buildings in the same complex).
What to expect in the facility:
- Room - spacious but it’s pretty bare. One single infirmary bed, one folding chair, one couch, one table, one TV with 20 +/- local channels only, relatively fast and reliable wifi.
- Food - served 3x a day following a schedule, left in a chair right beside your door. Light breakfast with cold tea, typical Taiwanese set (rice, meat, 3 veggies) meal for lunch and dinner along with a juice box and some fruits.
- Drinking water - they’ll leave you with a box full of 1L PET bottles. I ran out half way through and I had to constantly ask them for more.
- Hygiene - there are packets of shower/body wash, as well as TP, toothbrush, and toothpaste. There’s also laundry soap.
- Garbage - scheduled to be picked up twice a day, leave them outside your door. They will provide you with garbage bags.
- Misc stuff - there’s an electric kettle with some tea bags, electric fly swatter, an extension cable.
Needless to say, do not step foot outside your door (except for when they guide you to get tested). Whenever I had to pick up my food I’d just reach over and grab them by my hand, same when leaving my garbage bags outside my door.
The guideline said that the staff can accept packages from friends and family for you and the only limit was no large appliances, so I think you might actually be able to use Foodpanda if you’re hungry or ask someone to get you stuff from some convenience store - but to be safe you can ask them on LINE what kind of stuff can you get away with.
What to expect when leaving:
- They will test you 2 days before your checkout date. The staff will guide you.
- Arrange everything according to the photo they’ll send you.
- You have 3 options - by private car (leave at 12 midnight and some other predetermined time) or by bus together with the same group (at 9 AM I think?) which will take you straight to Changhua HSR Station - or whatever is the nearest HSR station I guess assuming there’s more than one quarantine facility.
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Thanks for explaining that very clearly 
Can I ask what airport you flew out of? Did you transfer in Manila?
Reason I ask is that there are endless stupid requirements for domestic flights, but none for international (apart from those imposed by the destination country). Any idea I still need this and that piece of paper signed by the governor’s brother-in-law before I can get on the plane, even though I’m only going to transit in Manila?
I can’t find any clear answer to this on the official websites, and I can’t get a definite answer from actual human beings.
NAIA Terminal 2 if I remember correctly.
Are you flying to Taiwan?
Requirements for Taiwan/your flight allowing you to board including the obvious:
- Passport
- Visa with special entry permit**
- Ticket
- Negative COVID test*
*when I flew they didn’t require ARC/Resident visa holders, so I can’t tell you which specific test you should get (there are several types of tests) and up to how long it is valid for.
Requirements to get in the airport for international flights:
- Ticket
- Passport
- They’ll remind you about your COVID test if your destination country requires it.
Requirements to get through immigration:
- **Depending on your visa/purpose of visit, then you will need to present other documents.
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Ah, OK. I was hoping you were flying from somewhere other than Manila.
I can’t figure out if, when one’s starting point involves a domestic flight (even if one is merely moving from one plane to another at NAIA), one has to secure all the other bits of paper that are required for inter-island travel.
News report of a quarantine facility
If you have a valid ARC or an APRC, and you have a place to live in Taiwan,
you have to go straight to your place of residence and quarantine for 14 days.
But the question for that is this: If you arrive in Taiwan and have to quarantine
for 14 days in your own place here in Taiwan, how would you arrange the
transportation? For instance, if I go to Canada, and I return to Taiwan and I have
a place to live as far away as Chiayi or Taitung, would I be required to rent a car,
or can I still ride a train or bus to get there as long as I wear a mask?
No. They have a special quarantine bus to major cities. In the alternative, you can take a taxi and the rate is significantly discounted. There’s a cap at 2000 NT.
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What is there is no quarantine bus going to your home location?
Then take a quarantine taxi. it’s cheaper than a real taxi or car pickup
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Does the CDC allow private pick ups (eg. from an airport transfer company) from the airport to home quarantine? Or is it only the specific taxi they got there?
Not sure, when I went through I saw people getting into pre arranged cars that weren’t Uber, nor a quarantine taxi. Could be a hotel pickup or a car service.
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Transportation Options from Taoyuan International Airport for Home Quarantine Travelers
You cannot take public transportation or a regular taxi, so unless you have someone pick you up at the bus stop (usually close to a highway exit), I’d suggest taking a quarantine taxi.
I took a quarantine taxi from Taoyuan Airport to my quarantine hotel in Kaohsiung. The meter read NT$10,155, and I only paid NT$2,660 (The rest was subsidized by the government). According to the cab driver, I was the only passenger he picked up that day, and he had started his day waiting at the airport since early morning. It would be past midnight when he got home. Nonetheless, it was a good day for him as he was able to earn more than 10K. I’d recommend taking the quarantine taxi to help the hardworking people who have been crucial in helping to keep Taiwan safe, if you can afford it.
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Dup
There we go!
New quarantine rule from Jan. 15, 2021
Q&A in Chinese on the rule is Q45
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So it does look like if an apartment has only one person in it, it is still ok for quarantine if I’m reading things correctly.
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Correct.
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Yeah. I totally agree with taking a quarantine taxi to Kaohsiung if you could afford it. The taxi I rode in was very comfortable and the driver was professional.
To add to quandary’s post, with regards to the bus, it is significantly cheaper (400 NT) but it adheres to a certain schedule and makes certain stops. Hence it would just take longer to get to your hotel and could affect whether you can get to your hotel in time before the midnight deadline.