[FOSDEM] visas and invitation letters

[Kashyap Chamarthy]

On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 5:28 PM, Daniel Pocock <daniel at pocock.pro> wrote:
>
>
> Can anybody comment on the visas and invitation letters for people who
> need such things?  I hate having to waste time on such things instead of
> doing real development work but I've had some contact from developers in
> our community who need this assistance and there is a lot of pressure to
> do it quickly so they can make flight reservations before the prices
> shoot up.
>

FWIW, speaking from successful experience of obtaining Schengen visa
several times in the past.  I have travelled a few times to Eu on
Schengen visa a few times in the past (though for about year or so,
I'm living, and legally working, in Belgium).

I attended (as a speaker) FOSDEM in 2012 (while I was not living here
still), with a Schengen visa.  Random notes recalling from my memory:

  - A letter of invitation explictly stating who will pay the expenses
    (flight, hotel, and meals for the duration of stay) of the
    attendee/speaker.  (In my case, I had the advantage that a small
    branch of my parent company in Belgium wrote me the invitation
    letter.)
  - It greatly helps if the applicant is employed, has a steady stream
    of paychecks, and has income tax evidence for the past two years or
    more.
  - Having sufficient personal funds (e.g. ablity to fund by yourself
    for 2-3 months or so for stay+food expenses) in the bank also helps.

Most of this information would be available in some form on Belgium
embassy's website for respective countries.

--
/kashyap