[Foundation-l] Wikimania 2006 - host city contest to open onSeptember1st 20

[Walter van Kalken]

Jimmy Wales wrote:

>Zachary Harden wrote:
>  
>
>>My country, the United
>>States, is very hard to get into and some of our Wikipedians from
>>overseas will have problems getting in, such as those coming from China.
>>    
>>
>
>This is widely believed, but is it actually true?
>
>We should get some hard facts before excluding the US completely from
>consideration.
>
According to a statement in the English language newspapers in Thailand 
about a year ago, over 90% of people applying for a visa to the US at 
the Bangkok embassy get refused. It was published in an article in which 
they also published a list of requirements and ask people to think 
before they apply. This was a reaction to a critical article in one of 
the papers about the hefty fees you have to pay to apply for a US visa 
and which you do not get back, even when refused.

Waerth/Walter