Eligibility for Taiwan's e-Gate program to be lowered to age 10: NIA

Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) Starting next year, people aged 10 and above with a height of at least 120 centimeters will be eligible to use the e-Gate system at Taiwan's immigration checkpoints, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said Tuesday.

In a press release, the agency said enrollment to e-Gate -- an automated alternative to manual immigration clearance at Taiwan's airports -- is currently available to citizens and alien resident certificate (ARC) holders who are at least 12 years old and 140 cm tall.

From Jan. 1, 2025, however, the minimum enrollment age will be lowered to 10, while the minimum height will be reduced to 120 cm, the agency said.

The NIA noted that by the end of this year, it will have fully replaced its old e-Gate booths at Taoyuan International Airport with 49 "new generation" e-Gate booths.

To use the new e-Gate booths, citizens must hold the newly-designed e-passport Taiwan's government began issuing in 2021. The new booths can be used both to self-enroll in the e-Gate program and for immigration clearance, it said.

The NIA also plans to install the new e-Gate booths next year at Kaohsiung, Songshan and Taichung airports, as well as at the still-under-construction Kinmen Shuitou Port Tourist Service Center, the press release said.