Apec Business Travel Card

[tangoll]

Anyone here have any experience entering Thailand using the APEC Business Travel Card? Do you go thru a special lane or thru the Thai Passport lane at Suvanna airport? And do you get the 90 days period of stay? Any special questions asked or any difficulties/problems?

Thanks.

[bendix]

I haven't received mine yet, but I've applied and I should have it by the end of the year. You can use the marked APEC lanes. You get 90 days, no questions asked because it's basically a pre-approved visa.

[kiakaha]

Anyone here have any experience entering Thailand using the APEC Business Travel Card? Do you go thru a special lane or thru the Thai Passport lane at Suvanna airport? And do you get the 90 days period of stay? Any special questions asked or any difficulties/problems?

Thanks.

search the forum, covered already.

you go through the diplomat/official lanes.very useful on arrival and departure if the regular lanes are backed up. i usually take my accompanying travelers through the official lane with me too, no problems.

you get 90 day permit of stay stamp in Thailand.

note, employment not allowed, work permits can only be attached to non-immigrant and immigrant(for those with PR) type visas.

[HarryHacker]

I haven't received mine yet, but I've applied and I should have it by the end of the year. You can use the marked APEC lanes. You get 90 days, no questions asked because it's basically a pre-approved visa.

I was under the impression that the passport holder had to be a citizen of one of the participating countries, therefore a Brit could not apply.

Standing by to be corrected.

[samran]

I haven't received mine yet, but I've applied and I should have it by the end of the year. You can use the marked APEC lanes. You get 90 days, no questions asked because it's basically a pre-approved visa.

I was under the impression that the passport holder had to be a citizen of one of the participating countries, therefore a Brit could not apply.

Standing by to be corrected.

you are correct, though ole Bendix is also a Kiwi, which gets him into the system.

The only place which allows non-nationals to get a card in Hong Kong, but that is only for PR holders. One or two members of this site are Brits with APEC cards issued by HK.

[HarryHacker]

I haven't received mine yet, but I've applied and I should have it by the end of the year. You can use the marked APEC lanes. You get 90 days, no questions asked because it's basically a pre-approved visa.

I was under the impression that the passport holder had to be a citizen of one of the participating countries, therefore a Brit could not apply.

Standing by to be corrected.

you are correct, though ole Bendix is also a Kiwi, which gets him into the system.

The only place which allows non-nationals to get a card in Hong Kong, but that is only for PR holders. One or two members of this site are Brits with APEC cards issued by HK.

Apologies to Bendy.

[bendix]

I haven't received mine yet, but I've applied and I should have it by the end of the year. You can use the marked APEC lanes. You get 90 days, no questions asked because it's basically a pre-approved visa.

I was under the impression that the passport holder had to be a citizen of one of the participating countries, therefore a Brit could not apply.

Standing by to be corrected.

you are correct, though ole Bendix is also a Kiwi, which gets him into the system.

The only place which allows non-nationals to get a card in Hong Kong, but that is only for PR holders. One or two members of this site are Brits with APEC cards issued by HK.

Apologies to Bendy.

Having two passports is a beautiful thing, baby.

As an aside, the process takes forever. I applied in May / June. They have this website where you can monitor which countries have already given you pre-clearance - they come in in dribs and drabs. Evidently, only Peru and Papua New Bloody Guinea are dragging their heels on me, otherwise I'd have it in my hot little hands already.

No more queuing in immigration for me! (cue barrage of abuse from our resident malcontents)

[kiakaha]

I haven't received mine yet, but I've applied and I should have it by the end of the year. You can use the marked APEC lanes. You get 90 days, no questions asked because it's basically a pre-approved visa.

I was under the impression that the passport holder had to be a citizen of one of the participating countries, therefore a Brit could not apply.

Standing by to be corrected.

you are correct, though ole Bendix is also a Kiwi, which gets him into the system.

The only place which allows non-nationals to get a card in Hong Kong, but that is only for PR holders. One or two members of this site are Brits with APEC cards issued by HK.

Apologies to Bendy.

Having two passports is a beautiful thing, baby.

As an aside, the process takes forever. I applied in May / June. They have this website where you can monitor which countries have already given you pre-clearance - they come in in dribs and drabs. Evidently, only Peru and Papua New Bloody Guinea are dragging their heels on me, otherwise I'd have it in my hot little hands already.

No more queuing in immigration for me! (cue barrage of abuse from our resident malcontents)

I'm a kiwi, it took about 5-6 months to get all the clearances...I think thailand and phillipines were the slowest. I've had mine 2 years now.

Bendix, you can request an interim card before all the clearances are received. Just email : [email protected]

[bendix]

Very useful tip, thanks.

I mean, who the hel_l needs it for PNG anyway? All the countries I need are cleared already.