Reaffirming my previous concepts. I cited the case of a country in Asia Pacific where only one person did not obtain the visa. Let me quote textually the clarification of that person (my friend) about the problem of rejection.

I obtained my visa as a tourist. I travel with my lady and I will remain in Montreal as a tourist several days after ICANN 66. Maybe that's why I had no problems. The "work / business" option should not be so restorative, or it should be separate, because it has a greater demand than that of a tourist. That's why I warned with a lot of time.

The clarification of my friend:

"There are several people from the same country with granted visas, and only one from that country with a visa denied."

This is true, but not very precise. I was the only person from our country who has made an application based on Newland Chase Advice via online application system through the global portal of Canada.

The rest of people from our country have NOT applied online and have NOT followed that procedure, they used the services of the local Armenia-based visa consulting company, and the logic of their application process was totally different. As a result, they have been granted visas.”

Regards

Alberto

De: At-Large <at-large-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org> en nombre de Alberto Soto <alberto@soto.net.ar>
Fecha: lunes, 28 de octubre de 2019, 02:09
Para: Satish Babu <sb@inapp.com>, John More <morej1@mac.com>
CC: At-Large Worldwide <at-large@atlarge-lists.icann.org>
Asunto: Re: [At-Large] The visa to Canada and fall of participation

+1 Satish!!

Best

Alberto

De: At-Large <at-large-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org> en nombre de Satish Babu via At-Large <at-large@atlarge-lists.icann.org>
Responder a: Satish Babu <sb@inapp.com>
Fecha: lunes, 28 de octubre de 2019, 02:00
Para: John More <morej1@mac.com>
CC: At-Large Worldwide <at-large@atlarge-lists.icann.org>
Asunto: Re: [At-Large] The visa to Canada and fall of participation

Thanks Evan.

In addition to all the benefits mentioned, remote meetings will also save on the enormous carbon emissions that our meetings seem to cause (as per the ICANN CEO's recent blog).

However, in a recent conversation with the CEO, we were told that ICANN does not foresee any change in its meeting strategy in the short run, which means we have to still seek ways to improve the visa process, especially for participants from the Developing World.

With kind regards,

satish

On Mon, Oct 28, 2019 at 9:33 AM John More via At-Large <at-large@atlarge-lists.icann.org> wrote:

+1

John More

On Oct 27, 2019, at 6:30 PM, Evan Leibovitch <evan@telly.org> wrote:

If there is indeed a genuine search for solutions....

The most obvious answer for years has been to not require anyone to have to physically travel, and to have Summits which by-design are meant to be held virtually.

Not only does this eliminate visa problems completely, but it also vastly reduces logistical challenges for both organizer and participant:
No lost luggage
No health insurance issues
No missed flights
No hotel booking problems
No currency-exchange issues
No issues with airport-to-hotel transportation
Having a virtual Summit also reduces the travel and settling-in time (making more time available for meetings) and eliminates delegates' burning fossil fuels to congregate in one place. More importantly, it also means that expenses are drastically reduced, so organizers don't have to go through an arduous task of determining who can or cannot be funded to go. The original ATLAS concept of one delegate per ALS doesn't have to be binned because of cost considerations.

The technology exists to do this -- the move from Connect to Zoom completely enables the capacity -- and we even has a proof of concept in the ISOC InterCommunity events which have been running for some time now. The cost of providing subsidy for short term reliable Internet access, to participants with connectivity challenges, would be far less than the cost of airfare and hotel.

Indeed I have previously advocated that all ICANN meetings should be mostly virtual as a matter of equitable access (ie, not only those with financial interest in ICANN decisions get to participate fully). Especially for At-Large ... think of how the money saved could be spent on public education and surveys that would legitimize our standing and serve our mission. But that's for a different thread.

The simplest way to deal with visa problems (among many other problems) is to eliminate the travel component completely and meet virtually.

- Evan

_______________________________________________
At-Large mailing list
At-Large@atlarge-lists.icann.org
https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large

At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org
_______________________________________________
By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy) and the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos). You can visit the Mailman link above to change your membership status or configuration, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery or disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a vacation), and so on.

_______________________________________________
At-Large mailing list
At-Large@atlarge-lists.icann.org
https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large

At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org
_______________________________________________
By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy) and the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos). You can visit the Mailman link above to change your membership status or configuration, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery or disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a vacation), and so on.

_______________________________________________ At-Large mailing list At-Large@atlarge-lists.icann.org https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org _______________________________________________ By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy) and the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos). You can visit the Mailman link above to change your membership status or configuration, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery or disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a vacation), and so on.