The best thing we can do for people that are priced out of coming or who
can't get a visa is to make sure that we get the videos uploaded within
days, not months or years, of the event. They might not be able to come to
the event, but at least with the videos they won't be out of the loop and
shut out of the discussion that follows.
Sven
On Feb 8, 2014 8:13 AM, "Liangent" <liangent(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 9:13 AM, Ellie Young <eyoung(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
I have already brought this up with them and
waiting to hear back (first
response didn't sound like there was much we can do frankly...) My
comment about the spring is that is when we will have a guide for our
attendees who need visas. They said it would be ready in the next couple
of months. We won't be notifying people about their scholarships until
April.
And while we are on this subject, I want to reiterate that we expect
individuals to cover their own visa expenses as well as contacting the
British Consulate on their own or through a visa service in their home
country. The UK accepts applications for visas 90 days prior to the
expected date of entering the UK (applying before doesn't do any good.)
I'm feeling this is somehow against our general principle to give people
from all around the world an equal opportunity. We don't want to classify
people as "no visa needed" "visa required with simple application
process"
or "visa required with requirements which are difficult to satisfy" for
access to Wikimania, but British government does, and usually, people from
a less developed country face a more strict visa policy. It would be better
to fill this natural gap between applicants based on their country of
origin first, and if our budget disallows, do something that is equal to
all applicants.
-Liangent
Ellie
On Jan 12, 2014, at 3:42 PM, aude <aude.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 5:31 PM, Ellie Young <eyoung(a)wikimedia.org>
wrote:
I will be sure to take this up when we are
putting together instructions
this Spring. UK Immigation has agreed to
put together a "how to apply" guide for our event. I will be sure this
issue get put to them.
I wouldn't wait until spring to bring this up with UK immigration.
It's not too soon to start now. The process for folks in Iran can take
quite a while (if similar to the process for Wikimania 2012 in the US) but
I think can be successful.
People in Iran will need to travel (at least once) to a UK consulate in
Turkey or UAE to apply.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/iran/applying/?langname=UK%20En…
Cheers,
Katie
Ellie
WMF Conference Coordinator
On Jan 12, 2014, at 2:08 PM, Muhammad Yahia <shipmaster(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Hi all,
I received this question about visas for Iranian citizens and am
passing it
along:
As it stands now, UK visa requirements for Iranian citizens is to have
a bank
account with (on average) 10000 USD or equivalent in the last six
months, plus proof of ownership of a property in Iran, the documents have
to be translated and notarized.
Most of the volunteers interested in getting scholarship for WM or
trying to
arrange travel on their own are mostly young people who do not
satisfy either conditions, is there something that the UK team can do about
that? can they get confirmation that if they apply these requirements will
be waived or something similar?
Thanks!
--
Best Regards,
Muhammad Yahia
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@wikimediadc / @wikidata
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