Legal basis

• Decision No. 45/2006/QĐ-TTg dated 28/02/2006 promulgating the regulation on issuance and management of APEC business travel cards;
• Decision No. 54/2015/QD-TTg dated 29/10/2015 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the regulation on issuance and management of APEC business travel cards enclosed with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 45/2006/QĐ-TTg dated 28/02/2006;
• Circular No.10/2006/TT-BCA dated 18/9/2006 guiding the implementation of the regulation on issuance and management of APEC business travel cards under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 45/2006/QĐ-TTg dated 28/02/2006;
• Circular No. 07/2013/TT-BCA dated 30/01/2013 amending and supplementing a number of points in the Circular No. 27/2007/TT-BCA, of November 29, 2007 of the Ministry of Public security guiding the issuance, amendment and supplementation of ordinary passports granted in the country and the Circular No. 10/2006/TT-BCA, of September 18, 2006, of Ministry of Public security guiding implementation of the regulation on issuance and maintenance of APEC business travel cards;
• Circular No. 28/2016/TT-BCA dated 05/07/2016 instructions on implementation of regulation on issuance and maintenance of APEC business travel cards.

1. Definition of APEC Business Travel Card

According to Article 1 of the Decision No. 45/2006/QĐ-TTg dated 28/02/2006, APEC business travel cards (hereinafter abbreviated to ABTC) mean a kind of document issued by competent authorities of countries or territories participating in the Scheme on APEC business travel card to their business people in order to facilitate their travels to:

• conduct business cooperation, commercial, investment or service activities
• participate in conferences and seminars; or for other economic purposes in countries and territories within APEC participating in the Scheme

ABTC holders, when entering or departing from countries or territories stated in their ABTC, need not obtain visas of such countries or territories.

2. Validity of ABTC

According to Article 1 of the Decision No. 45/2006/QĐ-TTg dated 28/02/2006, amended by Article 2.1 of the Decision No. 54/2015/QD-TTg dated 29/10/2015, BTCs shall be valid for five years since the date of issue and shall not be extended; In case of expiration, the new one shall be issued.

3. Benefits of ABTC

ABTC holders have the following benefits:

• Visa-free entry to the countries printed on the back of the ABTC, thus reducing the time to apply for an entry visa as well as extending the visa if you want to stay longer than the allowed visa period;
• Unlimited time of visa-free entries to those countries during the validity of the card;
• Priority entry procedures to these countries, access to separate gates for business people with ABTC;
• To stay in APEC countries from 60 to 90 days;
• Vietnamese business people whose ABTCs will easily apply for visas from developed countries that are not in APEC, such as the UK, or countries that are in APEC but have not participated in the APEC business travel cards program, such as the US and Canada.

4. Visa-free countries with ABTC

ABTC holders can be exempted from visas to 19 APEC countries, except the US and Canada, because their participation in the APEC program is not comprehensive.

Vietnamese ABTC holders can travel to countries with the maximum length of stay for each member country as follows:

• Australia, Chile, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Thailand, Brunei, Peru, Mexico: 90 days.
• China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam: 60 days.
• Philippines: 59 days.
• Russia: from 14 to 90 days

5. Cases eligible for issuance of ABTC

According to Article 6 of the Decision No. 45/2006/QĐ-TTg dated 28/02/2006, amended by Article 1.3 of the Decision No. 54/2015/QD-TTg dated 29/10/2015, subjects eligible for issuance of ABTCs:

• Vietnamese business people working in state-owned enterprises:
  • Chairman of the Board of Members, chairs of corporations, general directors appointed by the Prime Minister;
  • Members of the Board of Members, general directors, deputy general directors, directors, deputy directors of enterprises, industrial zones, processing and exporting zones, economic zones; directors, deputy directors of banks or branches;
  • Chief accountants, managers, assistant managers from enterprises, industrial zones, processing and exporting zones, economic zones, banks; heads of branches of enterprises or banks;

• Vietnamese business people working in enterprises that are legally established under laws of Vietnam:
  • Owners of private enterprises, Chairman of the Board of Members, members of the Board of Members, President of the Board of Directors, members of Board of Directors, general directors or directors of companies;
  • President of the Board of Directors, members of Board of Directors, directors or general directors of cooperatives or joint cooperatives;
  • Chief accountants, managers from enterprises; heads of enterprises’ branches and other similar titles;

• Staff, officials and civil servants who take part in activities of APEC:
  • Ministers, deputy ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, Governmental agencies, chairs and deputy chairs of People’s committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces responsible for participating in meetings, conferences and activities of cooperation and development of APEC;
  • Staff, officials and civil servants responsible for participating in meetings, conferences, seminars and other activities of APEC;
  • Heads, deputy heads of Vietnamese trade representative offices in member states or territories of APEC;

In case of need, at the request of competent authorities as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 7 hereof, the Minister of Public Security may consider and issue ABTCs to persons not as defined in Clauses 1, 2 and 3, this Article.

6. Requirements for issuance of ABTC

Entrepreneurs in the group to be considered for issuance of ABTCs must meet the following conditions to be eligible to apply for ABTCs:

Entrepreneurs applying for ABTCs must be at least 18 years old, not have restricted legal capacity, or have not lost legal capacity.

• Passports of business people applying for ABTCs are valid for at least 12 months.
• Entrepreneurs working at enterprises with business, trade, investment, and service cooperation activities with partners in member economies participating in ABTCs are expressed through business contracts, economic, commercial, and investment projects, and specific service contracts.
• Entrepreneurs working at enterprises are represented by labor contracts, decisions on appointing positions, and full participation in social insurance contributions at the enterprises they are working for.
• Not falling into the cases that have not been allowed to leave the country specified in Article 10 of the Regulation promulgated together with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 45/2006/QD-TTg dated 28/02/2006
• Entrepreneurs are working at businesses that have been operating for 06 (six) months or more.
• Entrepreneurs work at enterprises that comply well with trade, tax, customs, labor, and social insurance laws.

7. Procedure for applying for ABTC

7.1 Documentation requirements for applying for ABTC

According to Article 9.1 of the Decision No. 45/2006/QĐ-TTg dated 28/02/2006, amended by Article 1.5 of the Decision No. 54/2015/QD-TTg dated 29/10/2015, documentation requirements includes:

• One (01) declaration form attached with a passport photo and an affixed seal on along with confirmations by heads of enterprises or agencies organizing staff of economic sectors, state administration on activities of enterprises (according to forms prescribed by the Ministry of Public Security);
• Written requests for issuance of ABTCs or written permission for use of ABTCs issued by competent authorities as prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, Article 7 hereof.”

7.2 Application processes for applying for ABTC

According to Article 9 of the Decision No. 45/2006/QĐ-TTg dated 28/02/2006, amended by Article 1.5 of the Decision No. 54/2015/QD-TTg dated 29/10/2015, regulated application processes:

• Persons defined in Article 6 of this Regulation who wish to be issued ABTCs shall submit dossiers with the Immigration Department of the Public Security Ministry.
• Within three working days after receiving complete and valid dossiers, the Immigration Department of the Public Security Ministry shall have to exchange personnel data about applicants with competent authorities of the countries or territories participating in the ABTC Scheme, and within three days after receiving consents to the issuance of ABTCs from competent authorities of one or more participating country or territory, it shall issue ABTCs to applicants.
• Persons issued with ABTCs shall pay the set fee.

8. Note when using ABTC

• When using ABTC, business people should enter the country for the right business purposes as prescribed. Thus, entrepreneurs need to have the working addresses of partner agencies and business contracts.
• On the other hand, when asked about the purpose of entry, business people need to answer that they are entering for business purposes.
• Business people should stay within the allowed period under the ABTC. If you want to stay longer, you should inquire about extending your temporary stay. If you overstay without renewing, the businessman may have his ABTC confiscated and deported from that country.