Indeed, gaining entry into the US has become a more complex and lengthy
process than in years past. But, with proper information and adequate
planning it is not insurmountable. The American Association of Museums
(AAM) and AAM/ICOM value the participation of our international colleagues
at the AAM Annual Meeting (to be held this year in New Orleans, May 6-10,
http://www.aam-us.org/am04/index.htm) and we truly hope that entry
requirements will not deter our friends from joining us.
The following links provide information from the U.S. government on current
entry requirements and procedures that will be useful for anyone planning a
trip to the U.S. I would be happy to hear of other useful online resources.
Business or Pleasure Visitors, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/tempbenefits/BusPleasure.htm
General information about the Business or Pleasure visa, the type most often
used for visitors attending a conference.
Nonimmigrant Visas, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
http://travel.state.gov/nonimmigrantvisas.html
Provides links to information about visas including processing time,
locations, fees, application forms, border country requirements, photo
requirement
Links to United States Embassies and Consulates Worldwide, U.S. Department
of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
http://travel.state.gov/links.html
Visit the consular section of these sites for specific information about
getting a visa to visit the U.S. from your country.
Visa Waiver Program, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/leavingarrivinginUS/how_do_i/vwp.xml
Lists countries whose nationals can be admitted to the U.S. under limited
conditions for a limited time without obtaining a visa.
US-Visit Pamphlet, Department of Homeland Security
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/Pamphlet_BW_Web.pdf (English)
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/SP-pamphlet_bw-web.pdf (Spanish)
Explains new entry and exit procedures for visitors with non-immigrant
visas.
We hope to see you here soon!
Helen J. Wechsler
Director
International & Ethics Programs
American Association of Museums
1575 Eye Street, NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20008
Tel: (202) 218-7699
Fax: (202) 289-6578
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-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Boylan [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 9:25 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Planning future ICOM International Committee meetings: (temporary?)
visa problems for scientific and professional visitors to the United States
I know that most if not all ICOM International Committees will be busy
planning their 2004 annual meeting in Seoul. However, I thought that since
Committees will be deciding during that meeting their future programmes for
the following triennial period they would be interested to know that serious
difficulties are being reported by many international organisations over
meetings in the United States because of the current emergency "Homeland
Security" measures that have been put in place as part of the USA's defences
against international terrorism.
ICOM has always had warm cooperation with the governments and other official
bodies of countries where it or its constituent International Committees
plan to meet, including the United States. I don't recall any significant
problem about ICOM members attending meetings since the then USSR
authorities objected at first to the granting of visas to the ICOM Israel
delegation to ICOM 1977 in Leningrad and Moscow (since Israeli passports
were not recognised at that time by the Soviet Union) - though happily,
following strong representations from the ICOM headquarters and ICOM USSR,
visas were issued to all in good time.
However, the International Council for Science - the leading world body for
scientific and academic cooperation - which represents 75 national academies
and 27 international scientific unions covering almost every area of
science, social sciences and humanities research - has recently considered
the rapidly growing number of cases of problems with international meetings
held in the United States. The ICS reports that there have had serious
problems because many invited participants have either been refused visas to
visit the USA for meetings, even after the personal attendance at a USA
Embassy or Mission abroad (which is now required in all cases: postal or
agency applications are no longer accepted), or where there have delays of
several months before a decision on a visa application has been made.
Recent examples of meetings significant numbers of those invited failing to
get visas have included several major international academic and
professional conferences, and even a World Bank expert meeting. It is also
reported that an official United States Government conference on Afghanistan
reconstruction virtually collapsed because not one of the Afghan experts
officially invited by the United States were granted visas by the Kabul
Consulate.
It seems that because of current security concerns, at the moment very few,
if any, visas for scientific or professional meetings, or for study in the
USA, are being issued to the nationals of around 40 countries, including
China, Russia, other former USSR countries, the Middle East, and some
African countries.
As a consequence the International Council for Science has now called on all
its member bodies and their constituent organisations to hold their
conferences outside the United States for the time being.
While ICOM Committees will, I am sure, want to avoid such drastic action, it
seems to me that they will want to be assured well in advance that every
Committee member wishing to attend will be granted a visa, where this is
required, even in these difficult times in terms of international and
national security concerns. I have no doubt that prospective local
organisers of meetings in the USA, and where necessary the AAM-ICOM
Secretariat, will be able to advise, and where necessary negotiate the
necessary assurances, as ICOM was able to do with the Soviet Government in
respect of ICOM Israel members in 1977.
Also, members in countries where visas are required for USA entry and who
are hoping to attend ICOM meetings in the USA should be advised to apply for
their visa around six months in advance of the meeting.
Patrick Boylan
Chairperson, ICOM - ICTOP (Training of Personnel)
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