Re: Docs Sprint - not this time for me too.

[Sindhu S <sindhus live in>]

On 20-Feb-2013, at 10:49 PM, Jim Campbell <jwcampbell gmail com> wrote:

> Yes, it's quite a bummer that you won't be able to make it.  : /  I understand that you went through a lot of effort just to be able to try and go.  Sorry to hear that you went to such lengths, and encountered such difficulties.

After being repeatedly told from all sides that one must _not_ apply for business visa cause it got refused (as in the case of a previous intern last year) and tourist visa was understood to get approved without any hassle, I did as I was told. 

Little did I know that not only type of visa applied but also these factors:

1. information we have to back it up in terms of people corroborating the application, 

2. the bilateral relations between the the two countries (participant's and the host) and 
3. the clear cut explanation of participant's relationship with the host 

…are the deciding factors in case of first timers (like me).

In addition, to the suspicious eye first timers are given, a participant not falling within the bracket of being employed or a student are treated much like invalids and we encounter such unfair bias. I hope interns in future (from not just India) are warned about such erratic behaviour of embassies before they embark on such a endeavour risking opportunity, time, effort and money. 

I intend to appeal against the incorrect visa rejection because am not just giving up yet to become another statistic in government records.