Re: [guadec-list] Foundation financial info

[Moray Allan <moray sermisy org>]

On Fri, 2007-06-08 at 07:21 -0400, Sara Khalatbari wrote:
> So what we are going to do is to give them the attached pdf saying
> that the conference will take care of the accommodation and flight. 

You should be clear in the letter who or what is paying for the trip.
Is "the GUADEC committee" a legal entity?  If so, give its company
number and registered address; if not, specify something else that is a
legal entity as paying for accommodation/flights.  At the moment the
only legal entity mentioned is the GNOME foundation, but unless the
foundation is itself trading in the UK, that just adds confusion.
Unless the letter is from a genuine company, it is only a personal
sponsorship letter, and you *will* then need to provide evidence of
earnings, bank statements etc.

The advice we got was to address the letter to the recipient, not
immigration officials, but to mark add a heading 'For immigration
purposes'.  You shouldn't anyway say 'invitation letter' if, as in this
case you're actually giving a 'sponsorship letter' that promises to
cover costs (the latter is more helpful in getting a visa, so don't
imply it's only the former).

I'd strongly suggest getting this letter proof-read, and fixing the
presentation (either put space between paragraphs or indent them).  From
the language, I assume that the current version was written by a
non-native speaker.

Here's my own quickly-proof-read version:

<Company name>
<Company's registered address>
Date

Dear Sara Khalatbari,

The GUADEC  2007 Organization Committee is delighted to accept your
registration for GUADEC 2007, to be held at <address>, Birmingham
<postcode> from Sunday 15 July to Saturday 21 July.  GUADEC 2007 is the 
8th annual GNOME Users and Developers European Conference.

Name: Ms. Sara Khalatbari
Address: <home address>
Nationality: <country of passport>
Passport: L8020186
Birthdate: <date of birth>
Place of birth: <as in passport>

<company> Ltd. will pay for your flight, and for your accommodation from
14 to­ 22 July 2007 in the Etap Hotel, 1 Great Colmore Street
Birmingham, B15 2AP, UK.

The GNOME Users' and Developers' European Conference (www.guadec.org)
is an annual meeting of GNOME developers, enthusiasts and 
individual, business, education and government users worldwide. The
event is targetted at software developers, and will provide a forum for
those working on the GNOME project to showcase their work and discuss
the future of GNOME development.

Paul Cooper
<Position in company>
Tel: +44 121 634 1620
<direct email address>


The final paragraph you had isn't needed, but if you *do* address the
immigration officer and include it, you should fix the English:

Please issue an appropriate visa to allow Sara Khalatbari to enter the
UK to attend GUADEC.  If you have any questions, please contact us at
the address, phone number or email address above.

-- 
Moray