This had mixed results, for one, people who had their visa's coveredA conference is about rendering us all mostly equal - some location,
in the past may have been surprised to learn that this time round they suddenly had to pay $100-200 that they thought would have been covered.
Furthermore, visa requirements tend to affect people from less
privileged countries the most. If we're serious about diversity, I
think that we should include covering the visa fee if we offer travel+accommodation by default, and that this should be the default
for DebConf going forward, and ideally for all Debian events.
I realise I have some bias here, I myself come from a country where I
need a visa nearly everywhere I want to travel to, but I do think that including visa fees by default will help making Debian easier to
contribute to for people who come from such countries, and ultimately
have a small role in helping us expand to more areas and improve our diversity.
I don't think this needs to be a GR per sé, but I'd like to hear the
views of others on this, and I hope that we can garner enough consensus
so that we can just go ahead and implement this in our future bursary policies.
I think covering travel Visa fees makes a lot of sense.
Thus I suggest a maximum fee for any Visa related activities, e.g. a default of USD 200, adjusted to inflation and (if necessary) relative Visa-cost insanity of DebConf hosting countries*. Because sometimes travel is required to just get a Visa, e.g. going to a larger city to apply in person. Of
course - as with all our reimbursement - only the actual cost can be claimed with receipts.
Hi Daniel (2022.06.27_15:57:52_+0000)
I think covering travel Visa fees makes a lot of sense.
+1
Thus I suggest a maximum fee for any Visa related activities, e.g. a default >> of USD 200, adjusted to inflation and (if necessary) relative Visa-cost
insanity of DebConf hosting countries*. Because sometimes travel is required >> to just get a Visa, e.g. going to a larger city to apply in person. Of
course - as with all our reimbursement - only the actual cost can be claimed >> with receipts.
Hi Debianites
I don't think this needs to be a GR per sé, but I'd like to hear the
views of others on this, and I hope that we can garner enough consensus
so that we can just go ahead and implement this in our future bursary policies.
Furthermore, visa requirements tend to affect people from less
privileged countries the most. If we're serious about diversity, I
think
that we should include covering the visa fee if we offer
travel+accommodation by default, and that this should be the default
for
DebConf going forward, and ideally for all Debian events.
I realise I have some bias here, I myself come from a country where I
need a visa nearly everywhere I want to travel to, but I do think that including visa fees by default will help making Debian easier to
contribute to for people who come from such countries, and ultimately
have a small role in helping us expand to more areas and improve our diversity.
I don't think this needs to be a GR per sé, but I'd like to hear the
views of others on this, and I hope that we can garner enough
consensus
so that we can just go ahead and implement this in our future bursary policies.
-Jonathan
Hi Daniel (2022.06.27_15:57:52_+0000)
I think covering travel Visa fees makes a lot of sense.
+1
Thus I suggest a maximum fee for any Visa related activities, e.g. a default
of USD 200, adjusted to inflation and (if necessary) relative Visa-cost insanity of DebConf hosting countries*. Because sometimes travel is required
to just get a Visa, e.g. going to a larger city to apply in person. Of course - as with all our reimbursement - only the actual cost can be claimed
with receipts.
That sounds sensible. I'd go one step further and say that any
visa-related travel costs shouldn't be automatically covered, but
require the sign-off of the visa team (for debconf, or DPL otherwise).
Hi Daniel (2022.06.27_15:57:52_+0000)
I think covering travel Visa fees makes a lot of sense.
+1
Thus I suggest a maximum fee for any Visa related activities, e.g. a default
of USD 200, adjusted to inflation and (if necessary) relative Visa-cost insanity of DebConf hosting countries*. Because sometimes travel is required
to just get a Visa, e.g. going to a larger city to apply in person. Of course - as with all our reimbursement - only the actual cost can be claimed
with receipts.
That sounds sensible. I'd go one step further and say that any
visa-related travel costs shouldn't be automatically covered, but
require the sign-off of the visa team (for debconf, or DPL otherwise).
In the case of Indian visas this year, it took the local team a few
weeks of effort to find a better solution than travel to Istanbul for
the Indian attendees. I think we want the pressure to be on for visa
team to try to make something like that happen.
I'd also suggest that the bursaries team publish a clearer list of what
is and isn't acceptable for travel reimbursement (e.g. taxis, travel
hotels).
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