Interim APEC card at Jakarta (CGK)

[ajca]

I have recently received my Australia-issued interim APEC business travel card.

The card has been approved by most APEC economies but I am still waiting for Indonesia to give pre-clearance for it.

Unfortunately Indonesia is the place I travel to the most - and also the place with the world's stupidest visa on arrival system and the longest immigration lines.

Does anyone know whether I can use the APEC lane at Jakarta airport with my interim card that hasn't been approved by Indonesia and doesn't have IDN written on the back of it?

Logically this should be possible (e.g. one can use APEC lanes in U.S. even though they never give pre-clearance). But I am not sure how using the APEC lane would work with the Indonesia visa on arrival system. Do I wait in line to buy the visa on arrival ticket and then take it in to the APEC lane?

For those thinking "just chill out and use visa on arrival until Indonesia gives you pre-clearance"... the last couple of times I've arrived in Jakarta from Singapore it's been on the heels of a couple of widebody arrivals from the Middle East and I've waited in line for 1.5+ hours.

I'd like to avoid doing that again if at all possible.

Would be very interested to hear anyone's experiences on this. Many thanks in advance!

 

[moa999]

US is very different as they don't ever pre-clear. The card just entitles you to use the special lane.

For Indonesia I would expect them to be sticklers on requiring the IDN on the back, certainly they will levy the US$25.
But if the lines are long, won't cost much time to give it a go, but would definitely pay for the visa first.

 

[DTM1]

My experience is that they will check and they will probably require you to go to a different queue. However, they can process you in that lane if you buy your visa first, as they have had no problem processing people accompanying me who have purchased visas and don't have apec. really depends on whether the customs agent wants to be a stickler or not.

 

[ajca]

My experience is that they will check and they will probably require you to go to a different queue. However, they can process you in that lane if you buy your visa first, as they have had no problem processing people accompanying me who have purchased visas and don't have apec. really depends on whether the customs agent wants to be a stickler or not.

I suppose it's worth giving it a shot at the risk of an extra 10 minutes from being sent to the back of the main line. Would definitely buy the VOA coupon first. I should have known that the answer would be unclear and arbitrary

They let you take non-APEC card people with you through the APEC lane?

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I once asked an agent in a South East Asian country if there is any record of apec, pre-clearance or a business visa on their system.

Their answer was "No", to which I replied "So there's no way you can tell about a visa/apec unless I show you a card?". "Correct".

This however wasn't in moneyhungry Indonesia....

 

[trippin_the_rift]

They let you take non-APEC card people with you through the APEC lane?

I've done this on many occasions, only once been told to go to the other line, which was empty anyway.