A friend of mine just let me know that he had visa issues as well. <"Edit
conflict": same person Pine referenced>
I remember hearing that people from the middle east had trouble getting
into the country for 2012 in DC. I heard of at least one person from India
not being able to get into Hong Kong. Now people from Latin America are
having problems getting into the UK.
I am not sure what the answer is; whether we should be encouraging
organizing chapters to be significantly more aggressive in their
communication with visa granting authorities, or possibly selecting future
venues with an eye towards selecting countries that have fewer geopolitical
rivalries and are less paranoid about immigration. If national government
tourism agencies are sponsoring our events, we need to let them know too.
Visa problems will certainly factor into my willingness to support future
events in countries where it has been a problem before.
Also, not that I think they woul ask, but the WMF certainly shouldn't ask
scholarship recipients that were denied visas to return any money that they
could not get back from the airline and hotel.
My condolences, and hope to see you all in 2015.
Sven