Advanced Passenger Processing Service

[Maestro]

Thailand started using Advanced Passenger Processing Service (APPS) on 1 DEC 2015.

Source: https://dcs.aero/product/thailand-api/

 

When I check in at Milan Malpensa airport for a flight to Bangkok, what information about me does the airline transmit to Thai immigration under APPS?

[ubonjoe]

As far as I know just the basic info about you. Passport number and etc.

The purpose of it is to get is pre approval for entry to Thailand. Mostly it is a check for being banned from entry to the country.

[mtls2005]

Full name
Gender
Date of birth
Nationality
Country of residence
Travel document type (normally passport)
Travel document number (expiry date and country of issue for passport)
 

 

 

After transmission (used to be within 1 hour after departure, now may be 15 minutes) this then gets bounced up against the Thai "undesireable" DB. And a greeting party is arranged.

 

 

[BritTim]

I believe the information sent is flight number, date of arrival, and planned immigration clearance location, plus just the personal information available from the machine readable zone of your passport:

Quote

  Official Travel Document Number (Passport or other official travel document number)

  Issuing State or Organization of the Official Travel Document (Name of the State or Organization responsible for the issuance of the official travel document)

  Official Travel Document Type (Indicator to identify type of official travel document)

  Expiration Date of Official Travel Document (Expiration date of the official travel document)

  Surname/Given Name(s) (Family name and given name(s) of the holder as it appears on the official travel document.)

  Nationality (Nationality of the holder)

  Date of Birth (Date of birth of the holder)

  Gender 21. (Gender of the holder)

The system allows for transmission of such things as visa number, visa date and place of issue. However, I do not believe airlines are required to include these by Thai immigration.

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

After transmission (used to be within 1 hour after departure, now may be 15 minutes) this then gets bounced up against the Thai "undesireable" DB. And a greeting party is arranged.

I think it done before you board your flight. There have been reports of being denied boarding due to appearing on the blacklist.

[007 RED]

Although for some reason best known to themselves, Thailand has decided to call to Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) something different, namely the Advance Passenger Processing System (APPS).  They are one and the same thing.

 

Please bear in mind that the information which the airline will pass to the APIS about you from your departing country is not only transmitted to Immigration of your arriving country.

 

The information about you is also passed to Immigration; Customs and the Law Enforcement agency of your departing country as well as those agencies in your destination country.

 

The information that the airline will pass to the APIS is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which functions under the United Nations (UN) and basically comprises the following:

 

1...... Your Biographical Information as shown at the bottom of the photo page of your passport between <<<< >>>>, plus;

 

2......  The Fight Code comprising the International Air Transport Association (IATA) airline code and flight number, plus;

 

3......  Scheduled Departure Date and Time of the aircraft based upon local time of departure, plus;

 

4......  Scheduled Arrival Date and time of aircraft based upon local time.

[007 RED]

32 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

After transmission (used to be within 1 hour after departure, now may be 15 minutes) this then gets bounced up against the Thai "undesireable" DB. And a greeting party is arranged.

FYI... The airline normally sends the Advance Passenger Information to the APIS 24 hours prior to departure of the flight, hence on occasions when the passenger checks in the they can be refused boarding because the APIS has returned a 'Do not board' code.  The airline does not know the reason why the passenger has received a 'Do not board' code.

 

However, in cases where a passenger books a flight at the last minute, the APIS can handle the passenger data up to 1 hour prior to the flight's departure, hence the reason for most airlines closing the 'gate' 30 minutes before departure to still give the APIS to respond = Board or Do not board code.

[007 RED]

47 minutes ago, BritTim said:

The system allows for transmission of such things as visa number, visa date and place of issue. However, I do not believe airlines are required to include these by Thai immigration.

Tim.... FYI.... At present there is no facility within the APIS (worldwide) for the inclusion of visa information.  Many countries are gradually moving towards the ICAO recommendations for Machine Readable Documents (ICAO DOC 9303 7th Edition), which includes visas (e.g. the 'sticker' type). I suspect that at some time in the future this will become a requirement but I'm unable to give any indication as to when this might be.

Edited February 29, 2020 by 007 RED