These data show that the average cost of obtaining a business visa in the year 2017 was US$84 (the OECD average is lower at US$82 and the non-OECD average higher at US$89). Twelve of the 45 countries have a visa cost greater than the average cost of US$84, with Colombia charging the most at US$297 (4.6% of that country’s per capita income in 2017) and Japan the least at US$7 (see Figure 2). The mode of this distribution is US$72, which could be a reasonable target<sup>6</sup> for the “more expensive visa” countries in the top half of the distribution (especially Colombia, New Zealand, Austria, India and the United States) leading to significant cost reductions for business visa applicants, resulting in likely facilitation of MNP, at least at the extensive margin. A case in point is India, where the cost of applying for a UK Visa was 6.1% of India’s per capita income in 2017.

Similarly, the average number of documents needed to obtain a business visa in the year 2017 was 9 (the OECD average is a little higher at 10 and the non-OECD lower at 7). Nineteen of the 45 countries have a number of documents requirement greater than the average, with Austria and France both needing the most at 16 and the United Kingdom the least at 2 (see Figure 3). It may not be unreasonable to expect at least the 10 countries in the top 25% of this distribution to move closer to the sample average, which would lead to a tangible reduction in costs for business visa applicants and a likely extensive margin effect in facilitating Mode 4 trade.

At the same time, there is considerable heterogeneity in the types of documents that are required to be submitted in support of a business visa or work permit application. For instance, Attström et al. (2013) note that even in the case of the common Schengen Visa, some EU Member State Consulates require official translations of supporting documents, imposing additional costs in terms of resources and time on the applicants. Harmonizing these requirements and declaring a common set of documents across visa jurisdictions would go a long way in reducing costs imposed by regulatory heterogeneity.

Likewise, the visa processing time (in number of days) in 2017 varied from as high as 32 for Canada to as low as 1 for Japan (see Figure 4). The average for the sample is 13, with the OECD average higher at 15 and the non-OECD average much lower at 9. Interestingly, 21 of the 45 countries (all OECD) needed 15 days on average to process a business visa, which could be a reasonable target, especially for the five countries at the top of this distribution (Canada, Turkey, Israel, Costa Rica and New Zealand). Again, this reduction in visa processing time is likely to facilitate Mode 4 trade, also by making the process more certain and predictable.

Another interesting measure covered in the STRI data is the duration of the visa for crew members (in number of months). While the sample average in 2017 was only five months, the Indian visa allows crew members almost two years, while the visas of four other countries (Australia, Turkey, Russia and Malaysia) allow at least 12 months (see Figure 5). Longer visa durations will certainly facilitate the movement of aircrew, seamen and truck drivers in delivering services by reducing recurrent costs in re-applying for visas.

Longer visa durations for services suppliers should thus be a significant aspect of any TFS agenda on the MNP. Ideally, the duration of a visa should match the time needed by the service supplier to deliver the service. The challenges emanating from the absence of such a linkage

> 6 Alternatively, the costs of obtaining visas could simply be set as a cost-recovery fee and the cost of administering them. This would still lead to cost reductions though the visa costs would then not be the same across all countries.

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