[FOSDEM] visas and invitation letters

[Jo]

Even though the term invitation letter sounds simple enough, it's a bit
more complicated than that.

What your doing is getting into a legal contract between yourself/company
and the Belgian ministry of the interior. You agree to be liable for all
expenses in case this person doesn't leave Belgium/Schengen zone as
foreseen. In case of a forced expulsion this is thousands of euros.

I would also be very surprised if it's still possible to accomplish all the
needed paperwork in one month. It involves going to the municipality, they
need to contact the ministry of the interior and they in turn need to
contact the embassy of the country, back and forth. The person also needs
to present themselves at this embassy, at least twice. The process usually
takes 3 - 8 months.

Anyway it's not something you'd do for any random person either. A lot of
trust is involved.

Jo
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