You, or a visa company on your behalf, will be asking the Chinese consulate for a visa and as part of the application there will be an explanation of your planned activities in China. The consulate will decide whether the type of visa requested is consistent with your planned activities and if so, it will grant you the visa. Otherwise, the consulate will reject the application and tell you to re-apply for a different type of visa. Once you have the visa, you are done. I.e., Customs is not going to second-guess the validity of a visa issued by the Chinese consulate. Issuing visas is the consulate's responsibility. Sent from my iPhone > -----Original Message----- > From: ietf-bounces@xxxxxxxx [mailto:ietf-bounces@xxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of > Cullen Jennings > Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 1:50 PM > To: Mary Barnes > Cc: IETF Discussion > Subject: Re: Tourist or business visa from US? > > > Wow, I find this whole email thread shocking. > > Given the text explanation you get of F and L visa from the embassy web > site, which Mary quoted below, I have a very hard time seeing how > anyone comes to the conclusion that L (tourist) visa is the right visa > for an IETF meeting. I believe the the explanations that you are likely > to get away with it, but I have a very hard time believing it is not > breaking the law. I'd be fascinated to hear the reasoning of people who > think it is legal. > > > On Aug 24, 2010, at 9:21 AM, Mary Barnes wrote: > > > The note posted suggested that if you were planning to sightsee a day > or more before or after the meeting that a tourist visa might be > sufficient. > > > > However, I prefer to err on the side of caution in this situation > since it clearly states on the chinese visa website: > > > > Business Visa (F Visa) is issued to an alien who is invited to China > for a visit, an investigation, a lecture, to do business, scientific- > technological and culture exchanges, short-term advanced studies or > internship for a period of no more than six months. > > > > versus > > > > Tourist Visa (L Visa) is issued to an alien who comes to China for > sightseeing or visiting family members or friends or for other personal > affairs. > > > > Personally, I'd rather not risk any problems in this area. Since, my > company is sponsoring to attend the meeting, I don't consider that I'm > going to China for "personal affairs". In my experience, you're > typically asked why you're visiting a country and sometimes the > questioner wants more details as to what you'll be doing. So, unless > you have figured out a detailed sightseeing itinerary in advance, I > would think it's possible you could easily answer that question > unsatisfactorily. > > > > Just my opinion, > > Mary. > > > > On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 9:43 AM, Andrew G. Malis <agmalis@xxxxxxxxx> > wrote: > > Is there a consensus that a tourist visa is sufficient to attend the > > IETF from the US? > > > > Thanks, > > Andy > > _______________________________________________ > > Ietf mailing list > > Ietf@xxxxxxxx > > https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Ietf mailing list > > Ietf@xxxxxxxx > > https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > > > Cullen Jennings > For corporate legal information go to: > http://www.cisco.com/web/about/doing_business/legal/cri/index.html > > > > _______________________________________________ > Ietf mailing list > Ietf@xxxxxxxx > https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf _______________________________________________ Ietf mailing list Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf