Yes, this has been true for the past 2-3 months. Some users have stated that a tor browser allowed them to bypass this; might be worth a shot.
I believe it is just very recent because a friend of mine had transactions just weeks ago. He was able to withdraw from gate without KYC, only via SMS authentication. That is why I asked for his help but to our discovery, gate has changed its rules already and I was not informed about it.