Re: Tourist or business visa from US?

["Richard L. Barnes" <rbarnes@xxxxxxx>]

FWIW, I was required to provide such a letter for a visa to Saudi Arabia earlier this year. So it's not without precedent.

--Richard

On Aug 24, 2010, at 11:59 PM, Andrew Allen wrote:

Mary

It seems you now also need a support letter from your own company too.

When I tried to get my business visa for China last year they refused to process my application without such a support letter. This was the first time I had been asked for such a letter.

Andrew
 

From: Mary Barnes [mailto:mary.ietf.barnes@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 06:56 PM
To: Ole Jacobsen <ole@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: ietf@xxxxxxxx <ietf@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Tourist or business visa from US?
 

My understanding is that the only difference in paperwork is the letter of invitation. Is there any other additional paperwork that is necessary?  I would have thought that letters of invitation would be something the host had anticipated would be needed by the attendees - at least a subset. The wording on the meeting FAQ is somewhat nebulous as it notes that the secretariat won't provide the letters and that one is needed from the host, but there's no information on the process to request one.  Do we just send an email to the individual listed as the contact for our visit?  

Mary.

On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 5:49 PM, Ole Jacobsen <ole@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

There is no visa waiver program for China, at least not for any of the
countries relevant to this discussion. You need a visa. Getting a
tourist one is "easier" in the sense that it requires less paperwork
and documentation. For a visit of duration ~ one week or so, there
should be no issues with getting a tourist visa.

Ole


Ole J. Jacobsen
Editor and Publisher,  The Internet Protocol Journal
Cisco Systems
Tel: +1 408-527-8972   Mobile: +1 415-370-4628
E-mail: ole@xxxxxxxxx  URL: http://www.cisco.com/ipj

On Tue, 24 Aug 2010, Mary Barnes wrote:

> U.S. customs is the least of my worries in this situation.  In the 15 years
> that I've been attending these sorts of meetings, I've never needed a visa
> of any sort ahead of time.
>
> Can you please point me to an official website that suggests that there is a
> visa waiver program for us attending the IETF meeting in China?
>
> Mary.
>
> On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 3:44 PM, Behcet Sarikaya
> <behcetsarikaya@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
> > I agree with Fred.
> >
> > Many countries we go to attend IETF meetings would probably require
> > "business"
> > visa but we go there as tourists on a visa waiver program. On the way back
> > as
> > far as US customs are concerned the purpose is business but US customs
> > never
> > asks why you did not get a business visa.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Behcet
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > > From: todd glassey <tglassey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > To: ietf@xxxxxxxx
> > > Sent: Tue, August 24, 2010 12:38:00 PM
> > > Subject: Re: Tourist or business visa from US?
> > >
> > > On 8/24/2010 8:24 AM, Fred Baker wrote:
> > > > In the many times I have visited  China, I have gotten a business visa
> > once,
> > >and it was seriously not worth the  effort.
> > > >
> > > > I plan to get a tourist visa.
> > >
> > > Except that now  the PRC is looking at the purpose of your trip and that
> > > is to develop  intellectual properties so this is not a personal but
> > > specifically a business  trip.
> > >
> > > Does Cisco's legal department condone that Fred?
> > >
> > > Todd  Glassey
> > > >
> > > > On Aug 24, 2010, at 7:43 AM, Andrew G. Malis  wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> Is there a consensus that a tourist visa is  sufficient to attend the
> > > >> IETF from the US?
> > > >>
> > > >>  Thanks,
> > > >> Andy
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