2012年2月29日水曜日

APEC card at Hong Kong International Airport

I now know why the Hong Kong International Airport is really considered one of the best in the world. They are very consistent in their service towards travelers and we witnessed how they enforced their rules when we were in the APEC card priority channel at immigration.
There were 2 male travelers in front and behind us. Only one out of two of the travelers had APEC card and thr other traveler was either a business associate or friend of the one holding the APEC card.
Even before you reach your turn in the line, an HKIA officer comes over to check if you are holding an APEC card. When he realized that only one of the two travelers behind us had the card, he politely informed the one without the APEC card that unfortunately he will have to join the normal queue With other travelers. The APEC traveler insisted that the other man was his guest and that it did not make sense for him to get through first whilst his business associate joined the longer queue as he would still have to wait for his business associate since they were traveling together. The officer reiterated that the companion was only eligible to queue here if it was a family member of the APEC card holder. When the business associate and APEC card member both refused to budge, the officer went to fetch an immigration officer who then escorted both men out of the queue over to the normal queue instead.
Just after this series of events, my husband commented that some countries allow for companion - family or non-family - but others (like HKG) would insist on family members (even though the wording on the APEC card website indicates Companion. Perhaps it is this lack of clarity that makes it subject to interpretation by each countries' immigration authorities.
It was nearly our turn when we realized the guy in front of us did not have an APEC card either and was a friend of the APEC card member who had already crossed immigration. The immigration officer politely told him that he could not process his immigration documents and that he would have to join the normal queue. The guy then tried bargaining with the officer around the likes of "just this time only", "please help me" etc. The officer then sternly reminded him that there were lots of others in the queue who are being delayed by his behavior. Finally the man had to join the normal queue as the immigration officer would not let him bend the rule.
I applaud the firmness of the officer and I'm sure everyone else in the queue appreciated the consistency of both the HKIA staff and Immigration officer's treatment of both cases.
Just a side note: i wonder if 2 gay men or women were traveling together to Hong Kong with one of them holding an APEC card, would their partner be recognized as a legitimate other half if they were married in a country that sanctions gay marriages?

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