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(a)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(a)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(a)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.
--
Benutzerseite: [[:w:de:User:DaB.]]
PGP: 0x7CD1E35FD2A3A158 (pka funktioniert)
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l