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(_dot_)ietf(_dot_)barnes(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 06:56 PM
To: Ole Jacobsen <ole(_at_)cisco(_dot_)com>
Cc: ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org <ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org>
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(_at_)cisco(_dot_)com> 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(_at_)cisco(_dot_)com 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(_at_)yahoo(_dot_)com>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(_at_)earthlink(_dot_)net>
> > > To: ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
> > > 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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