Fast Track Airport Clearance With APEC Business Travel Card
Say Bye-bye to Long Waiting at Airport Clearance With APEC Business Travel Card
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was formed in 1989 to improve the prosperity of the people belonging to the region. The APEC enabled people, goods, services, and investment to move quickly and seamlessly across borders. The APEC Business Travel Card was a system introduced to make it easy for business persons belonging to member countries to travel to any APEC economy. Business travelers holding the card get the benefit of visa-free entry to any of the fully-participating economies. It also speeds up the airport clearance process.
Presently, there are 19 fully-participating members and two transitional members. The fully-participating members are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, People’s Republic of China, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, and Vietnam. The United States (US) and Canada are transitional members.
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Quick Clearance with APEC Business Travel Card
In most airports of APEC economies, business people usually undergo a long waiting period to get cleared by the immigration authorities. The waiting period can be anywhere between half an hour to one hour. Such delays cause a lot of inconvenience to these people since they have important business to transact in the countries they visit. The APEC Business Travel Card allows entrepreneurs who travel frequently to enter APEC economies without delays by speeding up the immigration procedure. If you dislike queuing in the airports for clearing immigration formalities, getting an APEC Business Travel Card is the best solution.
The card-holders of fully-participating APEC economies get a pre-cleared entry into any APEC country in which they have business connections. However, they will have to face the regular immigration clearance process if they are card-holders from transitional economies. But, designated lanes at the airports of these economies fast-track the immigration procedure and facilitate quick entry.
The APEC Business Travel Card thus allows visa-free entry for business travelers into any of the fully-participating APEC member economies. It enables them short-term entry multiple times and lets them stay 60 to 90 days per trip.
What Are the Eligibility Criteria for the APEC Business Travel Card?
Applicants can get an APEC Business Travel Card by applying to the economy for which they have a passport. To apply for the ABTC, a person must:
- Be a business person who has to travel frequently to the APEC nations
- Not have any past criminal records
- Be someone who is part of a ministry, government department, or economic agency, traveling as part of his official duty
- Be an authentic business person who is part of an active business enterprise
Approved applicants will get a card with a validity of five years or as long as their passport’s validity, whichever is shorter. It takes around three months to process an ABTC application. But there are chances of delay as it requires pre-clearance from all participating APEC economies. The applicant gets to use an interim card during the waiting period for the final pre-clearance process. With the interim card, you get to choose five economies on priority for pre-clearance assessment.
Documents Required When Applying for the APEC Business Travel Card
An applicant needs to attach these documents:
- A valid passport
- Latest digital color photograph
- A scanned signature file image
- A letter of authorization of the organization
- A copy of the organization’s business registration certificate if applying as part of an overseas company
The APEC Business Travel Card eliminates the waiting period needed for immigration clearance by speeding up the process at the airport clearance. This provides a great advantage to business persons who need to travel frequently to APEC economies to conduct business transactions. It allows them more time to spend on activities that enhance their productivity and increase their sales and returns.
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