Instead of "
I am attending an IETF meeting at the Fairmont Hotel in Montreal", I say "
I am attending an IETF conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Montreal"
"Meeting" can imply business meeting, which is close to work. "Conference" does not have the same implication. I once had to spend five minutes explaining to Canada Immigration what kind of "meeting" I was attending.
On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 12:19 PM Mikael Abrahamsson <swmike@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Wed, 15 Aug 2018, Bob Hinden wrote:
> When asked by immigration why I am there I answer something like “I am
> attending an IETF meeting at the Fairmont Hotel in Montreal”. That is
> truthful and avoids the work issue. I haven’t been rejected yet :-)
Yes, it's best to avoid the word "work" when travelling. You're there to
attend a conference, meet vendors or similar. You're there for business..
Never "to work".
For thailand:
http://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/changes-visa-exempt.php
http://www.thaiembassy.org/helsinki/en/customize/28150-ConferenceBusiness-meetingSeminar.html
"1. Foreign nationals wishing to enter the Kingdom of Thailand to
attend a MICE event, which is endorsed or sponsored by TCEB, without being
employed or working for income, are regarded as tourists"
Having spent a total of over a year and traveled in and out of thailand a
non-trivial amount of time, I'd recommend to make things easier for
everybody and just say you're going there for tourism if you're a passport
holder from one of those 55 countries. If someone questions that, point to
above rule and say you interpreted it as you should say tourism. Apologise
profusely for the mix-up.
--
Mikael Abrahamsson email: swmike@xxxxxxxxx
Clint Chaplin
Principal Standards Engineer
Samsung Research America
Principal Standards Engineer
Samsung Research America
