Developer Guide

Visa Alert Program Introduction

Read on to understand how CIBT partners can exchange data with CIBT to take advantage of our Visa Alert Program (VAP).  This program helps partners ensure that their travelers receive customized visa notification emails that inform them of what and how to procure the travel documents needed for their travels.  This document describes the data elements, data format and the details about the data transmission process between CIBT and partners related to VAP.

Overview

CIBT’s Visa Alert Program (VAP) is a way for customers to provide information to their client (the traveler) about the appropriate travel documents that are needed for an international trip.  VAP is designed to proactively send email notification(s) to the traveler based on information in the traveler profile and the itinerary of the booking.  The program has been designed to provide a high quality, accurate and timely experience to clients.

Overview of how VAP works:

  • Participating partners, via a secure data transmission, provide us with booking information that contains travelers’ international itineraries and minimal profile details.
  • The secure data transmission is performed using CIBT’s REST Visa Alert API.
  • We analyze the data, on a per traveler basis, and determine the appropriate email communication.
  • We send a personalized email to the traveler that contains a website link which notifies them what is needed and provides them with a step-by-step overview of what to do. The traveler’s nationality, destination(s) and travel purpose are prepopulated based on the itinerary.
  • If we can provide a service to the client, there will be a link in the email that brings the client to the CIBT website to review for purchase. If we cannot provide a service, but there is information we have knowledge of, we will communicate that to the customer.

Once we receive trip/itinerary details, we will process the request same day and send the email to traveler. Any changed itineraries if sent to us will also be considered and processed as new itineraries and new emails will be sent. (There is no process to send cancelled itineraries to CIBT. If a visa-bearing trip is cancelled, it will be self-evident to the traveler that they will not need a visa.)

Content of the VAP Emails

Our Visa Alert Program supports many partners and the content of the notification emails depends on numerous factors which are not discussed in this document. Our CIBT Account Management team works with partners to configure email templates and content.

Closed Loop Feedback

We provide partners with effective reporting to determine which of their travelers have procured the recommended service. Partners can log into a reporting portal to query the CIBT fulfillment systems to determine which travelers have purchased a service from CIBT and which have not yet done so.  Partners should work with their Account Manager to get access to the Visa Alert reporting portal.