Originally Posted by
bocastephen
This is probably correct, no registration and fee, no egate. I don’t know of other countries that allow a foreign national visitor (non resident) that permits egate use without any form of registration as they are essentially just letting anyone waltz into the country without any inspection or check for warrants, prior issues, etc.
I’m landing at Songshan later today which I don’t believe has the new gates otherwise I’d try and take one for the team to see what happens.
If someone can confirm TSA has the new gates please post and I’ll give it a try. Worst case I’ll get rejected and just go to the APEC line
I have used e-gates at TSA, TPE and KHH to enter with no problem. But I also do not pay attention to what generation they are.
Originally Posted by
Majuki
It's not as dicey as Mrs. Majuki entering the PRC on her US passport with a visa and trying to take a cross strait flight to Taiwan with ticketing agents asking about her onward travel plans from Taiwan.
Surprisingly, the Chinese consulate had no issue granting a tourist visa even though she showed both passports.
They are just being pedantic and making sure she meets the requirements to enter Taiwan. If I have a simple roundtrip between Taiwan and China I have always needed to show my onward ticket out of Taiwan when I leave China. It could get sticky if one has a Mainland passport as well as, say, a US passport since that is technically not allowed by China. Then you need to tread carefully....
Originally Posted by
SFO_LOW_CLOUDS
I’ve had trouble showing when I entered Taiwan to some local businesses (some banks, smaller hotels, telecom providers).
They point to my old visa-exempt entry stamps from many years ago. To make matters worse, I have recent exit stamps but no recent entry stamps (the APEC exit line is shorter than e-Gate exit line).
Then I show my passport’s e-gate / immigration blue exemption stamp. About 75% of the time, the merchant still does not understand, but proceeds with the transaction anyway.
Anyone know a solution for when the merchant insists on proof of entry? Flight itinerary/receipt did not convince them.
This is surprising. Never saw a hotel or merchant check on entry stamps. I have heard from a foreign resident of Taiwan that your passport number rejects if you try to buy something tax free.
Originally Posted by
Majuki
I'm wondering why you had to reapply for the program.
When I renewed my US passport, I updated my passport on the Global Entry dashboard. NIA pulled my new passport information automatically within a few days after I had updated things on the GE side. My new passport worked the first time at the e-Gates without taking any action with NIA.
Glad it worked for you! I renewed my passport last year and was unsure so asked the immigration hotline. Was told to go to a city immigration office to update my record which took all of 5 minutes with no charge. It may have already been updated since I entered through e-gate on the new passport. But the office was two blocks from the original Costco in Taichung so it made a good excuse to get a Costco hotdog for lunch.
