Back from jungle

01.11.2009 10:02 ·  Notes  ·  visa, travels

I haven’t written anything for a month, as I just haven’t had enough time, and internet access has been quite limited at times. The most important news is that I’m going to the QGIS Hackfest in Vienna. Actually, the discussion about attending the hackfest started more than 2 months ago at the end of August, but I deliberately did not write anything because there were a lot of problems and ambiguities, especially the question of the visa. It was only this week that everything finally became clear.

The most difficult part was getting a visa from the Austrian embassy. The first thing you need to do is call the embassy or visit them in person to get the list of documents required and make an appointment. The last option is more suitable for Kyiv residents; for the rest, it is better to make a call. Remember that there is a charge for the call (€12) and that you can only pay by VISA or MasterCard, so keep your card details around.

The list of documents is not very long, but for all the documents you need a copy with a translation into German, otherwise, they will not be accepted. I have collected the following documents:

• a foreign passport
• copies of all pages of the national passport that contain any information
• a copy of the individual tax number
• a certificate from your place of work stating your average monthly salary and that you will keep your salary and job for the duration of the trip (if, like me, you have recently changed jobs and have not worked for 3 months, please also bring a copy of your employment record)
• a bank account statement with information on account balance and movements of funds for the last 3 months
• 2 photos 3.5×4.5
• filled visa application form
• documents confirming that I won’t be living on the street or at the train station :-) (the statement from the online booking should work)
• insurance with coverage of €30,000

The documents should be submitted one month before the planned date of departure. Of course, you can submit them earlier, but they will only be processed one month before anyway. I went to Kiev, stood in line and handed in the documents. Last week I received a call for an interview and went to Kyiv again…

It turns out that I am a suspicious person for the embassy. I got my passport back in April 2008, but it was “clean” until now (well, I haven’t had much luck travelling). So “clean” passport — one. I’m travelling alone — two. Only for 5 days — three. Four: travelling alone, all alone and and not on a sightseeing tour from some agency. Going to the capital — five (Why? For what? He’s probably a terrorist). I talked to the officer for about 15-20 minutes, and here the letter with the invitation to the hackfest, or rather to the “developers’ meeting” (if it had said hackfest — I would certainly have left without a visa), which I had asked the organisers for in advance, came in very handy. Then I waited almost 4 hours for an answer, but it was worth it — they gave me a visa in the end. For exactly 5 days. Now I am packing my bags.

P.S.: You can read about the upcoming hackfest in Vienna on the wiki. There is also a blog post with a report on the previous one, which took place in Hannover this spring, and an interview with the participants. If I get the chance, I will try to post updates directly from the scene or share my impressions when I get back. And this post can be seen as a teaser :-).