Pacific nations have long complained about the difficulty of short-term business trips to Australia and New Zealand. APEC, the Asia-Pacific regional organization that brings together around 21 economies from across the geopolitical spectrum, has successfully introduced the APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC). This blog describes the Pacific Business Travel Card (PBTC).
ABTC was launched in 1997. ABTC applicants apply to their home government. Once the application passes the approval stage, it will be circulated to all other shortlisted governments. The applicant will then receive her ABTC with a list of countries to which the applicant is permitted to travel.
ABTC grants its holder the right to enter the countries of successful application for 60 to 90 consecutive days over multiple years. This is a business visa, not a work visa. In 2015 the validity period of his ABTC was extended from his 3 years to 5 years, and in 2021 his physical ABTC card was replaced (in many countries) with a digital visa.
Nineteen of APEC's 21 countries participate in ABTC. Canada and the United States do not. Although these are major exceptions, ABTC is still rightly considered a success. One important positive indicator is simply the number of people using it, which has increased from 137,000 in 2013 to 340,000 ten years later. The ABTC visa is primarily for businessmen, but people in leadership positions in governments and NGOs also use this visa. One of us, my girlfriend, has her ABTC card for a trip from Australia to Papua New Guinea and this has made a huge difference in terms of ease of travel.
How does the Pacific Business Travel Card work? The natural champion and home of such cards would be the Pacific Islands Form (PIF). The PBTC application works in the same way as the ABTC application. Most interested will be Pacific Island businessmen wishing to visit Australia and New Zealand. Almost all Pacific Island countries already offer visa-free travel to each other. However, some countries only allow short-term stays (e.g. 30 days), so his 60-90 day stay offered by PBTC could be attractive. Additionally, PBTC is a “no questions asked on arrival” visa. Once issued, there is no need to present the sponsorship letter or other supporting documents at immigration.
In any case, PBTC, like ABTC, will allow applicants to focus on the countries of interest. The good news for Australia and New Zealand is that both countries reserve the right to decide who gets such visas to enter either country.
When then Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced (on the sidelines of, and perhaps inspired by, the 2018 APEC meeting in Papua New Guinea) that Australia would introduce a “Pacific-Australia card to make life easier for politicians”; Australia appeared to be heading down this path. , business and sports officials are scheduled to visit Australia. A 2019 update reassured readers that Australia was “rolling out the Pacific Australia Card to streamline travel to Australia by Pacific leaders.” There are many Pacific Australia Cards issued, but the number is unknown and they appear to be invitation-only. The details of how to apply for the Pacific Australia Card, who can apply, and the qualifications are not made public. The fact that the 2019 update is the most recent information available suggests that the effort is either stagnant or deliberately keeping a low profile.
While such unilateral efforts are beneficial, they should be promoted publicly and applications should be widely accepted. Unlike ABTC, the Pacific Australia Card is nowhere to be found on the Home Office website.
A multilateral approach has many advantages. That would include New Zealand. This means that applicants wishing to travel to Australia (or anywhere else) must first obtain travel guarantees from their home government. It means the Pacific region will have a say in what roles (such as churches, non-governmental organizations and the private sector) will be eligible for the new visas. And that would mean progress could be monitored by the Pacific Islands Forum.
Ultimately, unilateral and multilateral approaches should be mutually reinforcing. We encourage Australia to strengthen its commitment to the Australia Pacific Card and encourage the Forum to support the Pacific Business Travel Card. APEC introduced ABTC over a quarter of a century ago. Why should the Pacific be left behind?
disclosure
This research was supported by the Pacific Research Program., with funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Views are solely those of the author.
