APEC Business Travel Card
Encyclopedia
The APEC Business Travel Card is a travel document
issued to business travellers who are citizens of APEC participating economies. Valid for three years, the card eliminates the need for its holder to possess a visa when visiting other APEC participating economies as long as pre-clearance has been obtained during the application process.
Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Vietnam.
Citizens of these economies can apply for a Card at their national government, upon which moment their names are circulated amongst the other participating economies which give entry pre-clearance when all conditions are met. After this moment, the card can be used for visa-free entry.
Two economies are transitional members: United States and Canada.
Citizens/Nationals of these economies can not apply for the Card, and the appropriate visa still have to be obtained in advance. Expedited border crossing and visa-application however is possible.
and has the following fields:
Apart from the name of the member economy, no national signs are present on the card. On the back of the card, the member economies for which clearance has been approved are shown. The Machine-readable strip starts with "CP", followed by the abbreviation of the issuing economy. The abbreviations are in conformation with the 3-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-3
country codes. Even although Taiwan is a member economy under the name Chinese Taipei, the abbreviation TWN is used here.
Foreign holders of the card can visit Australia visa-free for 90 days, and special fast-track lanes are available for them at Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airports.
upon submission of form ID900, regardless of whether they are Chinese citizens, as long as they have never committed a criminal offence and have never been denied entry into another APEC participating economy. The card costs HKD427.
As a full participant of the scheme, foreign residents who hold an APEC Business Travel Card can enter Hong Kong visa-free for 60 days and are entitled to use special fast-track or resident counters.
As a full participant of the scheme, foreign cardholders can enter New Zealand visa-free for up to 90 days.
Travel document
A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international treaty organization to facilitate the movement of individuals or small groups of persons across international boundaries...
issued to business travellers who are citizens of APEC participating economies. Valid for three years, the card eliminates the need for its holder to possess a visa when visiting other APEC participating economies as long as pre-clearance has been obtained during the application process.
Participating APEC economies and application process
Most APEC economies are full participating economies in the APEC Business Travel Card:Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Vietnam.
Citizens of these economies can apply for a Card at their national government, upon which moment their names are circulated amongst the other participating economies which give entry pre-clearance when all conditions are met. After this moment, the card can be used for visa-free entry.
Two economies are transitional members: United States and Canada.
Citizens/Nationals of these economies can not apply for the Card, and the appropriate visa still have to be obtained in advance. Expedited border crossing and visa-application however is possible.
Physical Appearance
The card is issued in creditcard form, is machine-readableMachine-readable passport
A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....
and has the following fields:
- Name
- Sex
- Economy [name of the member economy]
- Date of Birth
- Expiry Date
- Signature
- Passport number
Apart from the name of the member economy, no national signs are present on the card. On the back of the card, the member economies for which clearance has been approved are shown. The Machine-readable strip starts with "CP", followed by the abbreviation of the issuing economy. The abbreviations are in conformation with the 3-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-3
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes are three-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest...
country codes. Even although Taiwan is a member economy under the name Chinese Taipei, the abbreviation TWN is used here.
Use
The card should in general be used in connection with a passport and has the following advantages:- VisaVisa (document)A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
pre-clearance: no visa requirements for short stay (up to 60–90 days) - Expedited border crossing in member economies, and the U.S. and Canada
- Expedited scheduling of visa interview (U.S.)
Australia
As a full participating member of the scheme, Australian citizens who are frequent bona fide business travellers can apply for a card through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship by post for AUS200.Foreign holders of the card can visit Australia visa-free for 90 days, and special fast-track lanes are available for them at Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airports.
Canada
Although not a full participant of the scheme, card holders are able to use special service lanes at major international airports upon arrival in Canada, but are still subject to the regular entry/visa requirements.Hong Kong
All Hong Kong permanent residents who are bona fide frequent business travellers are able to apply for the card through the Immigration DepartmentImmigration Department (Hong Kong)
The Immigration Department of the Government of Hong Kong is responsible for immigration control of Hong Kong. After the People's Republic of China assumed sovereignty of the territory in July 1997, Hong Kong's immigration system remained largely unchanged from its British predecessor model...
upon submission of form ID900, regardless of whether they are Chinese citizens, as long as they have never committed a criminal offence and have never been denied entry into another APEC participating economy. The card costs HKD427.
As a full participant of the scheme, foreign residents who hold an APEC Business Travel Card can enter Hong Kong visa-free for 60 days and are entitled to use special fast-track or resident counters.
New Zealand
New Zealand citizens can apply for an ABTC if they travel frequently on business and are of a good character through Immigration New Zealand for NZD150.As a full participant of the scheme, foreign cardholders can enter New Zealand visa-free for up to 90 days.