They didn't charge me this government fee. Also, they had me scan my left and right thumb, not index finger, so no way will my index finger work to enter.

Where is it you did this? They sometimes change fingers if they can't read a print off the index

They never asked me to try my index finger, just "left thumb" then "right thumb".

I did the processing at level 1 of departures.

I am more curious about the 3-month validity than anything else. 3-months is useless when I travel here every 3-4 months.

My gold card is valid until 2/2013.

could someone confirm whether i can sign up for egate in arrivals??. Most of the posters have been signing up at departures!!!

I know for sure that there is one in T1 arrivals before th passport check and I think someone else mentioned earlier in this thread that there is also one in T3 (I am too tired to look back to check for sure).

Also when using eGate card to leave Dubai you need to also scan your boarding pass after you have presented your card to the machine - it is not very intuitive because there is no signal that your card has been accepted but a quick swipe of the card followed by a scan of the BP usually leads to the plastic doors swinging open ... even though it beeps angrily and flashes red!

Yes, in T1 (maybe there is one in T3 that I haven't seen), after you moved along the very very long transfer tunnel you will go up the escalator on the immigration counter level. When you arrive that level just 5m after the escalator, there is a counter on the right side that is doing e-gate cards only.

I just picked up an e-gate card on my last trip through Dubai. I went to the office in the F/J departures area in T3. I had no trouble obtaining the card (this is the regular blue UAE-gate card, not affiliated with EK), but the immigration officer made it sound like my card was not "activated" because I had already departed the country (gone through passport control). I'm not a resident of Dubai, but I hold passport from a visa-waiver country.

Will I need to get my card activated before I can use it? If so, where can that be done?

I vaguely remember that in such cases you pitch up at the e-gate on arrival, try it and when it does not work the guy behind the desk will ask you to come over to see him and breathe some life into it for you ...

Correct. Either way you don't have to Q up at the regular counters

Brilliant. Thank you for the info, khalid26 and mrtdxb!

That was not my experience. I went to the same guy at the e-gate kiosks, and he stamped my passport and let me in, but he told me I have to go to the e-gate counter to get it programmed as he was not capable if doing so.

My understanding was he exists there as an immigration officer for those people that have a problem with their existing e-gate functionality.

OT, but when I travelled to Dubai with my family they allowed my family to clear customs with that guy since I have e-gate, which was awesome as the lines at all other immigrations counters were at least 20 minutes long.

It took me about 6 minutes to get my gold card activated for e-gate in DXB. I went to the egates in the arrival level but was informed by the man sitting there that I would have to exit and go to departures.

I did that and, apart from the very long walk, had no trouble in getting my card activated. When I asked about the fees, the guy told me that it is complimentary.

On the whole it was a straightforward transaction and all the people I encountered were polite and efficient.

I am not a resident in UAE and I hold a passport from a visa waiver country.

I never bothered with the Gold card (when I had it). Just paid for the regular two-year card.

Sorry to resurrect this thread.

Can anyone confirm that there is an e-gate office in the arrivals hall of T3? Before or after passport control?

Thanks a lot!