All are good points. However, from my point of view, the host chapter or organization ought to communicate with their local embassy of an upcoming conference in their country, what it means and areas attendees are expected from.
I personally think no embassy will 'intentionally' sabotage someone from attending a conference like Wikimania.
It all boils down to communication. We understand and know what Wikimania is, but for them it might be just one of the numerous conferences out there that many in developing countries take opportunity of to go and never return.
If the embassy gets to fully comprehend what the conference is about, its unlikely they'll decline that single person's visa who, in many cases, might be the only person representing his or her country.
I personally wouldn't wanna issue visa to someone to attend a conference I hardly know anything about or ignorant of any significance of it.
The key is, Communication, both with the host nation embassy, and attendees local embassies.
rexford | google.com/+Nkansahrexford | sent from smartphone
Thanks Chris. To be clear, I did not mean to imply that the position of Wikimedia UK would be synonymous with that of the UK government. I really liked a Wikimedia UK video displayed at Wikimania 2013 which included segments in multiple languages [1]. I did not follow Wikimania 2012 so closely but I would not be surprised if similar problems afflicted Wikimania 2012 in my home country of the US.Pine
On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 12:02 AM, Chris McKenna <chris.mckenna@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
The present UK government is not really interested in promoting multi-culturalism, rather it has attached a higher priority to being paranoid about immigration, an attitude fuelled by the tabloid press. It is likely that at least some of the rejections were entirely unavoidable, with immigration officers actively searching for something to reject people on, especially if they have recently accepted a higher proportion of applicants than average.As a native of the UK, this is not something that I am at all proud of.
On 6 August 2014 07:44, Pine W <wiki.pine@gmail.com> wrote:
Ah, sorry! I'm tired and it shows.
PineOn Tue, Aug 5, 2014 at 11:40 PM, Alan C Y Lai <alancylai@wikimedia.hk> wrote:
Pine,
Ellie said 10, not 10%, so don't be too alarmist. However visa policy should be part of eligibility consideration for venue.
Best regards,
Alan (not attending this year)
Sent on the road
---- Pine W wrote ----10% is a large percentage to deny. I am starting to think that in the future a criteria for Wikimania selection should be the ease of obtaining visas, if that isn't already a consideration. Ironically, I think one of the reasons the UK was chosen to host was the supposed ease of obtaining visas for Commonwealth citizens. I'm not sure what the UK is thinking but denying 10% of visa applicants for Wikimania is not a good way to promote tourism or multiculturalism.Pine
On Tue, Aug 5, 2014 at 11:03 PM, Ellie Young <eyoung@wikimedia.org> wrote:
We have that list going, believe me! I think a lot of the problems were insurmountable no matter how hard we andthe recipients tried because of the Immigration policies. We have at least 10 per my count that were denied.EllieOn Aug 5, 2014, at 5:32 PM, Pine W <wiki.pine@gmail.com> wrote:Some of the issues I know about might have been prevented with better communication. Ellie, can you ask people to have experienced visa problems to contact you or someone else at WMF so that WMF can create a list of problems and work on how to prevent these in future years?
Pine
On Aug 5, 2014 5:22 PM, "Naureen" <msnora@gmail.com> wrote:Sorry you all faced issues with visa. As part of the core volunteer team, I was sad to hear of various visa issues.Night!
On Wednesday, August 6, 2014, Amir Ladsgroup <ladsgroup@gmail.com> wrote:
It's not just two visa denials. I'm pretty sure about at least five
cases including mine.
It was predictable for me so I talked to one of my friends two months
ago to take over my presentation in case of visa denial. For the next
events I suggest you to be prepared for issues like this.
Best
On 8/6/14, Pine W <wiki.pine@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> This is the second report I have heard about last minute visa surprises.
> This kind of problem is disruptive not just for those who were denied entry
> but for others who were planning on the attendance of the person whose visa
> was denied.
>
> In any case, can you give your presentation remotely?
>
> Pine
>
--
Amir
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