Re: [802SEC] VISA requirements for Singapore for 802 participants who are not US citizens

[Bob Heile <bheile@ieee.org>]

Geoff

As I indicated in an earlier email, we have referred this to the meeting
planners and Cisco in Singapore for recommendations on how best to take
care of this.  Stuart and I are following up by phone tonight and
with luck we can get an answer fairly quickly.  Part of the meeting
registration process already asks whether a letter is needed so the
solution may be academic and all we need to do is make it more visible on
the web sites.  Stay tuned.

Bob 



At 11:51 AM 3/27/03 -0800, Geoff Thompson wrote:
> Colleagues-
>
> Apparently there is a problem, or at a minimum a complication, for folks
> who wish to attend the wireless meetings in Singapore. A "Letter of
> Introduction" (LOI) and a "form V52" is required by
> Singapore along with the visa application. According to the web site,
> these must be completed by a sponsoring person or corporation from within
> Singapore.
>
> This affects citizens from a number of countries whose membership is
> represented within 802 (e.g. India, Pakistan, PRC, Hong Kong, Egypt).
> Further, to my mind, it significantly inhibits our ability to have
> meetings that are "open" to new participants.
>
> I have no idea who should be approached to satisfy these requirements.
> The existence of the requirement and the procedure/contact to satisfy it
> should be included with the meeting notice on the web site(s).
>
> Please fix this and send an announcement to the reflectors when updated
> information is available.
>
> We will need to have a discussion at the next plenary on guidelines for
> appropriate meeting locations.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Geoff Thompson, Vice Chair, IEEE 802
>
>
> At 12:57 PM 3/27/2003 -0500, Mark Klerer wrote:
>
> > Geoff,
> >
> > I have gone to the Singapore website - here is the info about the
> > "Letter of Introduction" (LOI). Indian nationals are included
> > in the ones that require Visa's. Many US and Canada based companies have
> > Indian Nationals in their employee.  Other countries impacted are
> > China and Russia. 
> >
> > (b) To apply for an entry visa, the
> > applicant should
> > complete
> > Form
> > 14 as well as furnish a copy of
> > Form
> > V39A (Letter of
> > Introduction- LOI) issued by a Local Contact in Singapore. The
> > local contact can be a Singapore citizen, Singapore Permanent Resident or
> > a Singapore registered corporation. In the case of business visits, the
> > local contact must be a Singapore registered corporation. If you are not
> > able to furnish a LOI from a local contact, you may approach your Embassy
> > or Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a LOI to support your visa
> > application. 
> >
> > The web site is at 
> > http://www.mfa.gov.sg/consular/visa/visa_reqforeign.htm
> > So unless we can get the govt to issue some blanket "number" that identifies us - we ought to get such a letter to evryone attending that needs one.
> >
> > Mark Klerer
> > (From the ITU-R Meeting in Brazil)
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Geoff Thompson [mailto:gthompso@nortelnetworks.com] 
> > Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 8:34 PM
> > To: Jim Lansford
> > Cc: Geoff Thompson; bheile@ieee.org; stuart.kerry@philips.com; marks@boulder.nist.gov; M.Klerer@flarion.com; carlstevenson@agere.com; thompson@ieee.org; p.nikolich@ieee.org; mjsherman@research.att.com
> > Subject: RE: News updates from Singapore
> >
> > Jim-
> >
> > See attached below.
> >
> > Is a "letter" really necessary? Can you ask whoever our government contact is?
> > I have trouble with this, a copy of a meeting notice (and perhaps a copy of an IEEE membership card) should be sufficient in all cases (US and Canada too.) 
> >
> > Or am I being naive?
> >
> > Geoff
> >
> > At 05:58 PM 3/25/2003 -0600, Jim Lansford wrote:
> >
> > Geoff,
>
> (Material deleted, was on another topic, GOT)
>
> > Best regards,
> > Jim
> >
> > Jim Lansford, Ph.D.
> > VP, Business Development
> > Mobilian Corporation
> > Chair, IEEE 802.19 Coexistence TAG
> > www.ieee802.org/19
> > jim.lansford@ieee.org
> > Phone: +1 405 377 6170
> > Fax: +1 425 671 6099
> > Mobile: +1 405 714 0074
> >
> > ========================================================
> > From: "Tetlow, Sherry S [GMG]" <sherry.s.tetlow@mail.sprint.com>
> > To: "'Thompson@ieee.org'" <Thompson@ieee.org>
> > Cc: "Sheikh, Khurram P [GMG]" <khurram.p.sheikh@mail.sprint.com>
> > Subject: 802.20 Conference in Singapore
> > Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 14:08:56 -0600
> >
> > Mr. Thompson;
> >
> > Khurram Sheikh Chief Technical Advisor for Sprint, would like to attend the
> > 802.20 conference in Singapore from May 11th to the 15th.  Is it possible
> > for you to fax a letter of invitation to Khurram for his visa?  The letter
> > must be on letterhead and include the address in Singapore for the
> > conference and a  signature.  Please fax it to me at 913-762-0523.  Feel
> > free to call me if you have any questions at 913-762-1581.  We would like to
> > get the letter as soon as possible since it takes several weeks to obtain
> > the visa.
> > Thank you in advance for your consideration regarding this matter.
> > Sincerely,
> > Sherry Tetlow
> >
> > Sherry Tetlow
> > Exec. Admin. I,
> > to Khurram Sheikh,
> > Chief Technical Advisor, SBD Network Organization
> > 913-762-1581
> > 816-885-9904 PCS
> > sherry.s.tetlow@mail.sprint.com

Bob Heile, Ph.D

Chair, IEEE 802.15 Working Group on Wireless Personal Area Networks

Chair, ZigBee Alliance

11 Louis Road

Attleboro, MA  02703   USA

Phone: 508-222-1393

Mobile: 781-929-4832

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email:   bheile@ieee.org