I would rather say it should not be the only measure. Of course Israel is a very special case (and so are countries whose governments ban Israeli citizens from entering their countries).
Other than that we have multiple measures of visa-friendliness: * number of countries whose citizens do not need to apply for a visa * availability of embassies abroad, particularly in countries that are not visa-free (say, Canada has an extensive network of embassies all over the world, including countries whose citizens need visas) * visa application rejection rate * frequency of denial of entry at border control.
I do not intend to promote any country, I just want everyone to be fair and do not call a country "visa-friendly" if in reality more than half of countries need visas there, and vice versa. * A visa-friendly country looks like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Maldives * A country that is not visa-friendly looks like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_North_Korea
Mykola (NickK) --- Оригінальне повідомлення --- Від кого: "Amir Ladsgroup" ladsgroup@gmail.com Дата: 3 липня 2017, 00:17:31
Number of countries that can enter a country without visa is not a good measurement for a country being visa-friendly. Let's use your example. Per what you said it seems Israel is a more visa friendly country than Italy which is not correct. It's correct Israel allows more people to visit without visa but 1- For a handful number of countries visiting Israel is not an option at all (like mine which has twenty years in jail when I come back) 2- if we pass that point, they are really difficult on giving visa to Muslim/Arab countries passport holders. 3- The border control is very harsh and can deny entry on strange reasons even with valid visa or passport of a not-visa-needed country. What you just need is to look slightly non-Western and they give you hell in border. It happened in a recent Wikimedia event.
Best
On Mon, Jul 3, 2017 at 2:33 AM Mykola Kozlenko mycola-k@ukr.net wrote:
Hi,
For the sake of the discussion on "it's way better in my country", please look what your country's visa policy really is. For instance, check https://www.passportindex.org/byWelcomingRank.php or relative (English) Wikipedia articles. The former gives the following figures: (Five latest Wikimania hosts) * Canada: 51 country can enter visa-free, visa on arrival, ETA or equivalent * Mexico: 67 * UK: 91 * Italy: 93 * Hong Kong: 144 (Some other countries mentioned here) * Australia: 34 * Thailand: 78 * Israel: 96
Yes, that means that Canada is the least visa-friendly Wikimania host in the last 5 years. And yes, Thailand is less visa-friendly than the UK. And yes, Australia is the least visa-friendly country with an established Wikimedia chapter.
Thus please do refer to facts when qualifying a country as a visa-friendly or not, and not to your own perception of a country's visa policy.
Thanks Mykola (NickK)
--- Оригінальне повідомлення --- Від кого: "DaB." wp@dabpunkt.eu Дата: 2 липня 2017, 23:19:44
Hello, Am 02.07.2017 um 13:37 schrieb cs:
a country like Thailand where I live
you mean a country which is currently a military dictatorship (for the second time in 10 years)? A country that was THIS close to a open civil war? And if not a civil war, maybe a real war with Cambodia?
Visa problems are problematic, but it is 10 times better than to give the Wikimania to an instable country – we are not the FIFA.
Sincerely, DaB.