Talk:Wikimania 2006/Why and why not?: Difference between revisions

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There is much confusion about the process of entering the US from another country, not least because the details online aren't well-documented or kept fresh. (They should all use wikis!) I've summarized some relevant info on the bid's talk page.

To touch on the two most frequent misunderstandings, no one is iris-scanned and people who have not needed visas in the past will not need visas or biometric passports next year. --+Sj+

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-There is much confusion about the process of entering the US from another country, not least because the details online aren't well-documented or kept fresh.  (They should all use wikis!) I've summarized some basic info below.  --[[User:Sj|+Sj+]]
+There is much confusion about the process of entering the US from another country, not least because the details online aren't well-documented or kept fresh.  (They should all use wikis!) I've summarized some relevant info on the [[Talk:Wikimania 2006/Boston#Coming_to_America|bid]]'s talk page.
+To touch on the two most frequent misunderstandings, no one is iris-scanned and people who have not needed visas in the past will not need visas or biometric passports next year.  --[[User:Sj|+Sj+]]
-== Visiting the US ==
-* Noone is iris-scanned.  Nor will anyone need a 'biometric' passport.  The US State Department has been pushing the use of such passports (as have sister departments in some EU countries), but keeps postponing the implementation deadline for requiring them.  The current 'deadline' is [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4095244.stm October 26, 2006], late enough not to affect this conference.
-* Canadians will not need passports to enter the US; nor will US citizens need their passports to re-enter the US after a trip to Canada.
-* Unless you are from Canada, you will have a digital fingerprint and a digital photograph taken, just before a customs official looks at your passport; taking less than a minute.
-* If you are entering the US with a visa waiver, your passport must be "machine readable" -- which means it should have chevrons along its bottom or side.
-*: If you are entering with a waiver and '''getting a new passport''' issued after October 26, 2005, it must include digital photo information (all EU passports will have this information soon).
-:As an aside, the US has been first to carry out some of these measures, but other countries are unfortunately trying their own versions as well (e.g., [http://www.statewatch.org/news/2005/jul/07eu-id-bio-plan.htm EU id's] and similar [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/17/mcnulty_fingers_id_problem/ UK] [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/13/uk_eu_id_proposal/ proposals]).  --[[User:Sj|+Sj+]]
-=== Getting a US visa ===
-Applicants must visit a US embassy for an interview, and provide supporting paperwork (such as invitation letters, etc).  Likewise for getting Canadian visas; with the exception that an additional 20 countries are eligible for Canadian visa waivers.
-General visa application acceptance rates will not apply to Wikimania; almost all serious applicants will likely be able to attend either venue.  In Boston, we would
-* vett invitation-requests ourselves, taking care of visa fishing
-* send formal conference invitations from Harvard, which an immigration professional notes "is a huge advantage."  One of the Harvard perks we should make use of is that its International Office has contacts with the embassies in dozens of countries.
-* advertise the event and ensure visas are requested well in advance.  Many requests are denied because they are made too close to the departure date, or made without time to resubmit supporting information -- embassies often have precise requirements for the format of supporting documents (which can change from embassy to embassy :(  we encountered this problem last Wikimania as well).   --[[User:Sj|+Sj+]]
-I expect there will be around 60 attendees requiring visas.  Many of these will be getting travel and other financial support; which will further facilitate the visa process.  The others can be given direct attention from [either] supporting university, on a case-by-case basis.   --[[User:Sj|+Sj+]]