[governance] visas for india?

[Sivasubramanian Muthusamy]

Hello All,

By comparison, (or to inspire the Government of India), here is an account
of how the OECD Secretariat responded to a similar situation when I sent an
email to draw attention to my VISA application to visit Korea to attend the
OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of Internet.

My trip was finalized so late that there was barely enough time for my
passport to reach the Korean Embassy in Delhi, just a day to process (the
Embassy usually takes three days) and barely enough time for the passport to
travel back from Delhi to Chennai. So I sent an email to the OECD
Secretariat asking them to send a second email to the Korean Embassy in
Delhi ( in addition to the invitation that had already been automatically
faxed from the OECD Secretariat to the Korean Embassy in Delhi to say that I
am an invited participant).

My email was instantly forwarded to an Executive at the OECD Secretariat for
immediate attention, and he telephoned the Consul at the South Korean
Embassy at Delhi, then sent me an email to say that he has spoken to the
Consul and advised me to advise my Agent to take the papers straight
upstairs to the Counsel's Office. He also spoke to me to keep me informed of
his efforts, called me thrice more, sent two or three messages during those
two days to check the status and to ask me if it was done, and did not stop
until I told him that I got my VISA.  My VISA was processed on the same day
and was rushed back. I made it to the OECD meeting.

Hopefully the IGF Secretariat and the Ministries of Commerce and External
Affairs in India prioritize VISA applications by IGF participants in Indian
Embassies around the world !

(Parminder could also offer his valuable Special Advice to the IGF Chair on
this)

Sivasubramanian Muthusamy
ISOC India Chennai Chapter.


On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 1:57 AM, Konstantinos Komaitis <
k.komaitis at strath.ac.uk> wrote:

> I am also located in the UK and they do not accept the email confirming
> registration at the IGF. They say that they want a letter of invitation, my
> passport has been held by the Indian authorities for the past 2 weeks. They
> say that we need a letter of invitation even if we are to apply for business
> visa.
>
>
> Konstantinos
> ________________________________________
> From: Roland Perry [roland at internetpolicyagency.com]
> Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 8:09 PM
> To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
> Subject: Re: [governance] visas for india?
>
> In message <4905D8AE.40007 at gmail.com>, at 16:05:18 on Mon, 27 Oct 2008,
> Elena Pavan <pavan.elena at gmail.com> writes
> >Indian government should release a *gratis visa to the participants* to
> >the IGF in Hyderabad. i just called the agency the italian indian
> >consulate indicated me in milan and, apparently, gratis visas will be
> >released only for those who own a UN passport
>
> In the UK many Indian visa applications are handled through an agency
> appointed by the consulate. They say they know nothing about this "free
> Visa" arrangement, and looking at their online application process I
> think it will fail if I don't include the standard "Conference visa"
> fee. I live over two hours from London and was hoping not to have to
> travel and queue all day (as is apparently required when applying in
> person).
>
> The next obstacle is whether or not they will accept the email from the
> secretariat as a "signed letter of invitation". And will they also
> require a letter from my employer (in this case RIPE NCC in
> Netherlands).
> --
> Roland Perry
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-- 
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sivasubramanianmuthusamy
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