APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC)
 

anyone had any experience applying for the Australian APEC Business Traveller Card? I'm preparing my docs now and just wanted to get any insight that is out there.

Very very hard to qualify in past couple of years due to the other APEC countries complaining that Aussies had >50% of all APEC issued cards. Now it is limited to C-level of sufficiently large trade revenue companies. Much easier to get it in NZ for example. More power to you if you qualify.

Thats just not true. As long as you have business in asia, can show that you do and will travel and are C level or nominated by C level as having a BDM component in your job you should be OK. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Interesting to hear that AU nationals have around 50% of the APEC cards. Does anyone here know how difficult it is for NZ? I am company director and have been for 5 years. Took 34~ flights last year.

You need a clean criminal record, and evidence of regular short-term travel to a range of APEC countries (eg itineraries over the past 12 months) for the purpose of trade etc, and a fee of $150. Can take up to three months to get all country approvals but they will issue interim cards as approval come through.

Not at all. I am very far from a C-level and had no issues getting approved with a letter of support from a VP in my company. That said, I do work for a company with revenue in the $10's of billions per year, and with a non-trivial amount of that coming from APEC countries - which was detailed on my application letter, along with my extensive travel in APEC countries and elsewhere.

3 months... if only...

When I applied there was a backlog and they were openly stating that it would take a long time, but...

I sent in my application end of February (posted from Australia). My card was approved by Australia (after police background check, etc) in late August. My interim card was sent one month later (after being approved by about 4 countries that I had selected). This card is ONLY good for entry into the countries that have approved you at the time it's printed. My final card was sent on the 28th of November - 9 months after my initial application was mailed.

So far the card hasn't saved me getting any visas yet - although if it had been processed faster it would have saved me a Chinese visa and also meant I could have made a trip to Russia that I didn't end up making due to the time it would have taken to get a visa.

However I have used it to access the "fast lane" when going through immigration in many countries, including Thailand, China (with my temporary card that didn't have China listed, but with a visa), the USA (3+ times), and Canada and the time saved from that alone is worth every cent I paid for the card! In many countries (Thailand and China at least) you can also use the fast lane though immigration when exiting the country.

I got it pretty easily at IAH second half of last year, only delay (mild) was in getting an appointment. Is OP not US-based? With GE and proof of necessity shouldn't be too bad at all (unless I'm missing something).

OP is applying through Australia so those processes would apply.

Mine was first half last year, think it was about 4 weeks from application to approval (from Aus) and then about 10 weeks to get all the countries. You can track it on the website and they'd come through in clumps every couple of weeks, for me Japan was the last about 2-3 weeks after everyone else. That was about the same timeframe as my boss who got it a year earlier.

Where you are based has nothing to do with it - it's all down to citizenship. I'm based in the US, but had to apply through Australia.

Somewhat unrelated, but the US and Canada issued APEC cards are very different to those issued by other countries. These cards are much easier to get (if you have Global Entry you just need to ask for one and you get it), but they do NOT provide visa-free travel. The only benefit to having one of the US/Canada issued cards is that you can use the APEC line at immigration - but normal visa requirements for the country still apply.

Ah gotcha. Thanks!

Correct, I'm an Australian citizen based in the US with Global Entry. As I cannot apply in the US as an Australian citizen, I need to apply in Australia and it does seem more difficult than the US. I have all my documentation ready and will submit next week. Will let you all know about timing.

All the best for a relatively speedy approval!

What's the fee and procedure for this as a USA citizen? How long does it take to get the card for someone with GE?

As long as it takes to get an appointment slot. Super fast. Look up the fee (I don't remember)

Update. I submitted the application while back in Australia, (arrived at their offices feb 16th) and then followed up with an email. Got an auto response stating that processing time is currently 12 weeks. Will let you know actual processing time.