Re: [103all] Visas for IETF 103 in Thailand

[Clint Chaplin <[e-mail]>]

Instead of " I am attending an IETF meeting at the Fairmont Hotel in
Montreal",  I say " I am attending an IETF conference at the Fairmont Hotel
in Montreal"

"Meeting" can imply business meeting, which is close to work.  "Conference"
does not have the same implication.  I once had to spend five minutes
explaining to Canada Immigration what kind of "meeting" I was attending.

On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 12:19 PM Mikael Abrahamsson <[e-mail]>
wrote:

> On Wed, 15 Aug 2018, Bob Hinden wrote:
>
> > When asked by immigration why I am there I answer something like “I am
> > attending an IETF meeting at the Fairmont Hotel in Montreal”.  That is
> > truthful and avoids the work issue.  I haven’t been rejected yet :-)
>
> Yes, it's best to avoid the word "work" when travelling. You're there to
> attend a conference, meet vendors or similar. You're there for business.
> Never "to work".
>
> For thailand:
>
> http://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/changes-visa-exempt.php
>
>
> http://www.thaiembassy.org/helsinki/en/customize/28150-ConferenceBusiness-meetingSeminar.html
>
> "1.     Foreign nationals wishing to enter the Kingdom of Thailand to
> attend a MICE event, which is endorsed or sponsored by TCEB, without being
> employed or working for income, are regarded as tourists"
>
> Having spent a total of over a year and traveled in and out of thailand a
> non-trivial amount of time, I'd recommend to make things easier for
> everybody and just say you're going there for tourism if you're a passport
> holder from one of those 55 countries. If someone questions that, point to
> above rule and say you interpreted it as you should say tourism. Apologise
> profusely for the mix-up.
>
> --
> Mikael Abrahamsson    email: [e-mail]



-- 
Clint Chaplin
Principal Standards Engineer
Samsung Research America