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[guadec-list] Fwd: Foundation financial info

On 6/11/07, Quim Gil <qgil gnome org> wrote:

Calling the Spanish/UK embassy/ies in Peru will probably save you a
lot of hassle and doubts. They only want to provide visas to citizens
not cheating to them. A Spanish/British citizen organizing an event
and telling them what's going on helps a lot.


That's a good idea Quim. In the case of uk embassy, they state on
their website that they don´t receive any kind of communication, that
everything should be mailed or send to me.

I guess this also applies to calls. Another thing is that they have a
telephone central with no obvious way to get a person on the phone.
They say that calls are received from 9am to 12m (gmt) however. I´ll
try getting another number, but intuition tells me that they won´t
pick up the phone.



The way it work in the successful cases last year was:

- The participant needing the visa calls/visits the embassy in their
own country asking for and providing details. Explaining the situation
they usually get the specific information they need.


Already done. I was kindly 'Read the fscking web''d when I asked uk
embassy. Spain embassy also kindly tells you that if you want
something you better go read the f web. I'll double check anyway.



- Normally the embassy wants an invitation letter faxed from the event
organizers (there was a template available from last year). It looks
to me that the more demanding documents (i.e. proof of income) can be
surpassed or converted to a signed letter with a call from the
organizers explaining the situation.


Yes, that's a must have here. But as I just said, they don´t consider
valid or even want to receive documents themselves.
The invitation letter and the financial statement (basically just a
proof that GNOME Foundation is part of economy) should be enough.

I'll attach some other papers describing GUADEC/GNOME anyway. I'll
write back if I need something.



But never forget: at the end is a matter of providing the trust needed
to get a stamp.


That's true. And here it's kind of hard -as you might already noted-
to get that trust.

Thanks for your tips Quim.

Diego

07, Diego Escalante Urrelo <diegoe gnome org> wrote:

> On 6/9/07, Sara Khalatbari <saracomput gmail com> wrote:
> > Hi again Diego
> >
> > As far as I know the invitation letter to visit the UK can be from a
person
> > or a company. I 'GUESS' that you would need to show bank statements/pay
> > cheques/etc in case you are invited by a person & these would not be
> > necessary in case you are invited by an organization.
> >
> No, sadly I have to proof the economic ways of the $whoever is
> inviting me, no matter it's an organization or a person.
>
> >
> > So I suggest that you email the embassy, tell them that you are going
for a
> > conference and ask if they require such a  letter or just the invitation
> > letter would be enough.
> >
> Yeah I thought about that some weeks ago when I read about the
> requisites, they kindly pointed me to their web site. Basically they
> doesn't care.
>
> > In case you are sure you would need one, hopefully the gnome-uk will be
able
> > to adjust you a letter soon. You can also try giving them a draft of the
> > letter you think would be enough.
> >
> I put a request for an invitation letter on guadec.org. One like the
> PDF you attached s more than enough for the invitation partF you attached iss more than enough for the invitation partF you attached iss more than enough for the invitation partF you attached is more than enough for the invitation partF you attached is more than enough for the invitation part.
> The financial statements are a separate thing.
>
> > It would also be very effective in the visa procedure if some one from
> > guadec committee in UK calls the embassy and talk to them about your
case.
> >
> That's a great idea Sara, the phone number I have is one of those
> "press 1 for info on..." phone centrals, no matter they say they take
> calls from 2pm to 5pm, they never give another number or an option to
> get a real person.
> I'll try to get another number, I have the impression that they won't
> give me a positive answer if I tell them about this.
> However, I don't think calling anyway would be bad.
>
> I'll let you know.
>
> > See you in GUADEC,
> > Sara
> >
> >
> >  On 6/8/07, Diego Escalante Urrelo <diegoe gnome org> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hey Thomas
> > >
> > > On 6/8/07, Thomas Wood <thos gnome org> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi Diego,
> > > >
> > > > Your sponsorship to GUADEC is being paid for by GUADEC-UK, rather
than
> > > > the foundation. GUADEC-UK is oraganising Guadec 2007 on behalf of
the
> > > > GNOME Foundation. We have separate accounts to make the logistics
> > > > easier and as such GUADEC-UK has not had a bank account for very
long.
> > > >
> > > Hmmm, maybe we can show some kind of proof or receipt that shows that
> > > GUADEC-UK is a "local branch" of the Foundation?. I mean, just to give
> > > the existence of GUADEC-UK "support". A simple letter from the
> > > Foundation acknowledging the existence and purpose of GUADEC-UK would
> > > be fine I think.
> > >
> > > I think that if GUADEC-UK financial state has nice numbers (read: more
> > > than two pennies), there shouldn't be a problem.
> > >
> > > > I'm fairly sure this is going to make things even more difficult for
> > > > you, but perhaps you can suggest what we could arrange so that you
are
> > > > able to get a visa quickly and efficiently?
> > > >
> > > I'll double-check that this doesn't make things more complicated. But
> > > I think it would only be needed to proof that GUADEC-UK is funded to
> > > some extent by the Foundation.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > >
> > > > Thomas
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Fri, 8 Jun 2007 08:26:22 -0500
> > > > "Diego Escalante Urrelo" <diegoe gnome org> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Hey Rodrigo, Sara, Jaime!
> > > > >
> > > > > I'm sad to say it but, I think you have never invited a peruvian
to go
> > > > > outside of his/her country :(. It's hell.
> > > > >
> > > > > But let's be rational. You can see (in spanish) requisites for
visas
> > > > > for UK and Spain:
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > http://www.mae.es/Consulados/Lima/es/MenuPpal/Visados/Visado+de+Turismo/
> > > > >
> >
http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1136904295400
> > > > >
> > > > > Note that Spain doesn't say it clearly but you can take my word
that
> > > > > it's a requisite.
> > > > > In the case of UK you can read:
> > > > >
> > > > > "Si es otra persona quien cubre los gastos debe proporcionarle,
además
> > > > > de los estados de cuenta bancarios y boletas de pago de sueldo,
una
> > > > > carta de responsabilidad por sus gastos..."
> > > > >
> > > > > Which for our English speaking friends basically means something
like:
> > > > >
> > > > > "If someone else is taking care of your expenses he/she should
provide
> > > > > bank account states, pay checks and a letter of responsibility for
> > > > > your expenses"
> > > > >
> > > > > Rodrigo, sadly for naturals of my country it's not easy to be
trusted
> > > > > so easily.
> > > > >
> > > > > Sara, I'm moving the thread to guadec-list as you suggest. The PDF
you
> > > > > attached me is great! I was going to ask for one with almost
exactly
> > > > > those details. Still, as I just explained, I have to give the
> > > > > financial info.
> > > > >
> > > > > Jaime, yes I'm going to GUADEC-es too!. arturogf on #gnome-hispano
was
> > > > > kind enough to offer me the same. I'll be contacting you soon.
> > > > >
> > > > > And to everyone, just to clarify what's the intention of the
financial
> > > > > thing. As Sara said, the thing is to convince the embassies that
the
> > > > > guests will not have financial problems while on UK/wherever. In
that
> > > > > context, I just need financial info that proofs that the GNOME
> > > > > foundation is a wealthy organization, enough to _really_ pay for
my
> > > > > trip and that it's not just an invention of me and my UK friends.
> > > > > Yes, yes, I also think it's silly but this is how things are for
> > > > > me :(.
> > > > >
> > > > > So to resume, what I need is a trustful report that tells the
embassy
> > > > > (in numbers):
> > > > >
> > > > > 1. GNOME Foundation is wealthy enough to pay my expenses
> > > > > 2. GNOME Foundation actually exists and $someone-not-me knows
about it
> > > > >
> > > > > I was suggested that a printed report of the IRS (the "Internal
> > > > > Revenue System" of the US) would be enough. I understand that the
> > > > > Foundation is US based (?).
> > > > > If not, a report from $country's-IRS-equivalent would be enough. I
> > > > > repeat, I don't need to tell the embassy how much money is in
> > > > > Foundation's bank account. I only need to proof that it moves
money,
> > > > > and the taxes and info reported to the $country state as a
non-profit
> > > > > would be enough.
> > > > >
> > > > > Maybe this time I was clearer?.
> > > > > Just to _really_ stress this out: It's not easy for me to get out
of
> > > > > Perú, sadly naturals from my country are not well seen by other
govs.
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks everyone for your replies and will to help, I really
> > > > > appreciate it.
> > > > >
> > > > > Hope to see you at GUADEC!,
> > > > >
> > > > > Diego
> > > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > guadec-list gnome org
> > > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/guadec-list
> > >
> >
> >
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--
Quim Gil /// http://desdeamericaconamor.org
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