--On Thursday, 29 January, 2004 12:47 -0500 John Stracke <jstracke@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Aaron Falk wrote:
This is insane. Can the Secretariat please give unambiguous advice (preferably backed up by a letter from the Korean embassy) to attendees?
It sounds like you might be safest contacting the Korean embassy yourself and asking for a visa. If they say you don't need one, you're on firmer ground than if the IETF says you don't need one.
John,
As I understand it, different embassies and consulates are giving different advice, or advice that is as ambiguous as what is on the web pages (which, for example, do not mention the "non-profit" categories that have been discussed on this list), with further ambiguities as to what the IETF is. I have now had one consular official tell me that they _will not_ issue a visa if one appears to be unnecessary, even if one shows up with the form, the picture, and the $45 (in my experience, a fairly high fee as visas go). So even the "to be safe, get a visa" advice that has appeared on the list may not be useful.
My own experience is that the Korean immigration folks have been pretty relaxed when one says one is arriving for a "professional" meeting and a short (under a week or two) stay -- I've never been asked about a visa and I've never been questioned in any detail about, e.g., whether "business" might be discussed at such a meeting. But, as others have pointed out, there may be some risk of addition scrutiny in reaction to increase border nonsense by the US.
To make things even more exciting, those "business" category visas apparently require a notarized letter of invitation -- apparently hard copy, wet signatures, raised seal -- which can't usefully be posted on the web.
So I have to agree with Aaron's analysis. This has reached the point of being insane. Can the secretariat --or whomever is responsible for agreeing to this meeting-- get a definitive statement from an authoritative entity, mentioning the IETF meeting by name, and get it up on the web site in image form, so that we can all print it out and bring it with us (either to the embassy/ consulate if a visa is needed or to show to the immigration official if not). I think, given this level of confusion, that statement needs to be from the Korean Foreign Ministry or equivalent, not whomever answers the phone at a random time in some embassy or consulate.
And, if that is not possible, is it time that we hear about the contingency plan for holding this meeting somewhere else?
thanks, john