What is an ABTC?
APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC), a card issued to business travelers and senior government officials to meet certain requirements. APEC manages the ABTC program, which it refers to as the ABTC scheme. The ABTC scheme seeks to facilitate travel in the APEC region.
What are the benefits of ABTC?
It gives frequent business travellers:
- Fast-track entry and exit through special APEC lanes at participating airports
- Multiple, short-term entries to precleared APEC economies without having to make a separate visa application to fully participating members.
Who’re eligible for APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC)?
- Must hold a valid passport from an APEC economy (or)
- Be a permanent resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong, China)
- Must engage in regular business travel throughout the APEC region
- Should not have any criminal conviction.
How to apply for an ABTC?
Each economy should follow the guidelines and processes for applying for an ABTC, which includes application forms, fees and applicant screening.
- You can make a single application to the economy for which they hold a passport (home economy)
- You must be a permanent residence in the case of Hong Kong, China.
- If the economy assesses the application as meeting, the applicant’s details are provided to the other participating economies who conduct their own assessment of whether to grant pre-clearance.
- When all economies have made a pre-clearance decision, the applicant receives an ABTC that lists the economies to which they have permission to travel.
- Each economy is responsible for managing the processing of their own pre-clearance applications
- No economy has any influence over the processing timeframes of another.
What’s the validity period for ABTC Card?
- Maximum validity of five years (Check the expiration date on your card)
How to track ABTC Pre-clearance Status?
If the home economy has approved the application, you can monitor which economies have provided pre-clearance using the ABTC Pre-clearance Status Tracker. If you’re applying through Canada or the United States, you may check your application status through your TTP account.
- Visit https://www.abtc-aps.org/abtc-core/status/check.html
- Enter the economy applied
- Enter the application number.
Where you can find about ABTC lanes arrangements at airports, length of stay granted to APEC Cardholders and average foreign pre-clearance processing time?
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| APEC Economy | ABTC lane arrangements in major international airports | Length of stay granted to foreign ABTC holders | Average ABTC application pre-clearance processing time at March 2007 (working days) | Website | Contact |
| Australia | APEC lanes are signposted, located at the far left of immigration concourses, and are shared with aircrew. They are available in both the arrival and departure halls of the following major airports: | 90 days | Foreign applicants: 21 days | Australia Information for Australian passport holders https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/business-travel-card/Australiancitizens Information for non-Australian passport holders https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/entering-andleaving-australia/business-travel-card/foreign-applicants |
abtc@homeaffairs.gov.au |
| Adelaide | |||||
| Brisbane | |||||
| Cairns | |||||
| Darwin | |||||
| Sydney | |||||
| Melbourne | |||||
| Perth | |||||
| Brunei Darussalam | Special APEC lanes are provided at: | 90 days | Foreign applicants: not available | http://www.immigration.gov.bn | info@immigration.gov.bn |
| Brunei International Airport | |||||
| Canada | APEC lane arrangements in major international airports. Special APEC lanes are provided at: | Valid visas must be obtained if required by existing Canadian law. | Not applicable | http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/abtc-cvaa/menu-eng.html | abtc-cvaa@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca |
| Vancouver | |||||
| Edmonton | |||||
| Calgary | |||||
| Winnipeg | |||||
| Toronto | |||||
| Ottawa | |||||
| Montreal | |||||
| Halifax | |||||
| Chile | Special APEC lanes are provided at: | 90 days | Foreign applicants: 15 days | http://www.extranjeria.gov.cl/ | aroa@serviciomigraciones.cl |
| Santiago International Airport | |||||
| China | Special APEC lanes are provided at: | 60 days | Foreign applicants: not available | http://cs.mfa.gov.cn/zggmcg/apecshlxk/ | abtc@mfa.gov.cn |
| Beijing International Airport | |||||
| Pudong International Airport (Shanghai) | |||||
| Hong Kong (China) | APEC lanes are signposted and located in the Arrival and Departure Halls, and shared with Hong Kong Residents and Travel Pass holders at: | 60 days | Foreign applicants: 14 days | http://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/services/visas/apec_business_travel_card.html | visitors@immd.gov.hk |
| Hong Kong International Airport | |||||
| APEC Lanes are also available at selected ferry points and land control terminals. | |||||
| Indonesia | APEC lanes are signposted and located in the Arrival and Departure Halls at: | 60 days | Foreign applicants: 25 days | http://www.imigrasi.go.id/ | abtc@imigrasi.go.id |
| Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Jakarta) | |||||
| Ngurah Rai International Airport (Bali) | |||||
| Polonia International Airport (Medan) | |||||
| Juanda International Airport (Surabaya) | |||||
| Batam International Ferry Ports | |||||
| Japan | APEC lanes are signposted and located at: | 90 days | Foreign applicants: < 14 days | Information for Japan passport holders http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/apec/btc/index.html |
abtc@mofa.go.jp |
| Narita International Airport (Narita) | |||||
| Haneda Airport (Tokyo) | |||||
| Kansai International Airport (Osaka) | |||||
| Central Japan International Airport (Centrair, Nagoya) | |||||
| Korea | APEC lanes are signposted and located at: Incheon International Airport (Seoul) | 90 days | Foreign applicants: < 14 days | Information and Application system for Korea passport holders Website: http://abtc.kita.net Call center of KITA: 82 1566 5114 |
Officer in Charge: bordercontrol@korea.kr |
| Malaysia | APEC lanes are signposted and located at: | 60 days | Foreign applicants: 14 days | Department Of Immigration Malaysia, Visa, Pass & Permit Division, No.15, 1st Floor (Podium), Persiaran Perdana, Precint 2, Federal Government Administration Centre 62550 PUTRAJAYA (APEC Business Travel Card Unit) |
Nor Shima Izni Ahmad Shihamah – shimaizni@imi.gov.my Siti Juraidah Hussein – sitijuraidah@imi.gov.my Nurul Huda Mohamad Abbas – nurulhudama@imi.gov.my Mohamad Syahar Azizan – mohdsyahar@moha.gov.my |
| Kuala Lumpur International Airport | |||||
| Mexico | APEC Cardholders are entitled to use immigration lanes currently designated for air-crew upon entry at major international airports. APEC lanes are signposted. | 90 days | Foreign applicants: | www.gob.mx/inm (https://www.gob.mx/tramites/ficha/obtencion-de-la-tarjeta-de-viaje-para-personas-denegocios-de-apec-abtc-definitiva/INM800) |
furbina@inami.gob.mx ddiaz@inami.gob.mx gsalcido@inami.gob.mx abtc.mexico@inami.gob.mx |
| New Zealand | APEC lanes are signposted and located at: | 90 days | Foreign applicants: 17 days | Information for New Zealand passport holders (https://www.immigration.govt.nz/documents/forms-and-guides/apec.pdf) Information of non-New Zealand passport holders (https://www.immigration.govt.nz/newzealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/apec-business-travel-card) |
abtc@mbie.govt.nz |
| Auckland International Airport – clearly marked lane in the arrival hall. | |||||
| Christchurch International Airport-shared lane with aircrew, located in the arrival hall. | |||||
| Wellington International Airport. | |||||
| Papua New Guinea | APEC lanes are signposted and located at: | 60 days | Foreign applicants: 14 Days | http://www.immigration.gov.pg/apec/42-apec-business-travel-card-sceme.html | abtc@immigration.gov.pg |
| Jackson International Airport (Port Moresby) | |||||
| Peru | APEC lanes are signposted and located at: | 90 days | Foreign applicants: > 30 days | http://portal.rree.gob.pe/sitepages/abtc.aspx | cdelcastillo@rree.gob.pe, ssolorzanov@rree.gob.pe, tarjetas-abtc@rree.gob.pe |
| Jorge Chávez International Airport (Lima) | |||||
| Philippines | APEC lanes are signposted and located at: | 59 days | Foreign applicants: Not Available | https://consular.dfa.gov.ph/visainformation/25-visa/226-apec-business-travel-card | Fax: +632 836-7763, Email address: oca.abtc@dfa.gov.ph |
| Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Manila) | |||||
| Russia | vladimir.kristov@yahoo.com | ||||
| Singapore | APEC lanes are signposted and shared with Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents at: | 60 days | Foreign applicants: 14 working days | Information for Singapore passport holders www.ica.gov.sghttps://www.ica.gov.sg/enter-depart/for-singapore-citizens/apec-businesstravel-card |
ICA_ABTC@ica.gov.sg |
| Changi International Airport (Singapore) | |||||
| Chinese Taipei | Signposted APEC lanes are available in both the arrival and departure terminals. | 90 days | Foreign applicants: 10- 14 days | https://www.boca.gov.tw/lp-42-1.html | abtc@boca.gov.tw |
| Chiang Kai Shek International Airport (Taipei) | |||||
| Kaohsiung International Airport | |||||
| Thailand | Signposted APEC lanes are available in both the arrival and departure terminals at: | 90 days | Foreign applicants: 1 day Home applications: 14 days | Thailand Information and Application system for Thailand passport holders (http://www.abtcjsccib.org) http://www.jsccib.org/th/home/apec_business |
abtc@jsccib.org, sutee@jsccib.org |
| Bangkok International Airport | |||||
| Phuket International Airport | |||||
| Chiang Mai International Airport | |||||
| United States | APEC Cardholders are entitled to use ’fast-track’ immigration lanes (which in most instances is the air-crew lane) upon entry at all international airports. | Valid visas must be obtained if required by existing United States law | Not applicable | https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/apec-faqs | Toll Free: 1-877-CBP-5511 (877-227-5511) Outside the United States: 202- 325-8000 |
| Viet Nam | Signposted APEC lanes are available in both the arrival and departure terminals. | 60 days | Foreign applicants: 16 days | https://lanhsuvietnam.gov.vn/Lists/BaiViet/B%C3%A0i%20vi%E1%BA%BFt/DispForm.aspx?List= dc7c7d75-6a32-4215-afeb-47d4bee70eee&ID=93 https://www.immigration.gov.vn/ |
contact@immigration.gov.vn |
| Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi) | |||||
| Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh City) |
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For more information such as how to apply ABTC – APEC Business travel card, ABTC travel requirements, visit http://travel.apec.org/abtc-summary.html
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