MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference/International travel

The third-party MediaWiki community is distributed throughout the world. Each year, the MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference occurs in at least two different countries. However, international travel is not equally accessible for everyone interested in participating in the MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference, due to the various visa requirements that exist for foreign nationals throughout the world. For your convenience, we have compiled international travel requirements relevant to our main conferences in the United States and Europe, in case you will be traveling from abroad to attend a MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference.

United States

Spring MediaWiki Users and Developers Conferences typically happen in the United States.

Please view on Wikipedia the visa policy of the United States. We also recommend you research the visa requirements for your nationality/ies.

If your nationality is not included in the Visa Waiver Program, you will need to apply for a B-1/B-2 visa. If you need assistance with furnishing evidence of this conference for your B-1/B-2 visa application, please contact the conference chairs for an affidavit of this conference, which you would provide the State Department as part of your visa application.

Nationals of certain countries may have difficulty entering the United States. We recommend that, if this affects you, you let us know so we can consider accommodating you better. (Beyond remote attendance accommodations, some possibilities include moving future conferences to Canada or another North American countries which permits you to visit.)

Europe and the Schengen Area

Fall/autumn MediaWiki Users and Developers Conferences typically happen in Europe, almost always within the Schengen Area.

Please view on Wikipedia the visa policy of the Schengen Area. We also recommend you research the visa requirements for your nationality/ies.

If you are not an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen and your nationality is not included in Annex II, you will need to apply for a Schengen visa at your nearest local embassy or consulate for the country in which the conference will be held. One major exception to this rule is if you will be visiting another Schengen country for longer than your stay in the conference country, in which case you must apply at that country's consular section instead.

For MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference Fall 2024, you will need to apply for a Schengen visitor visa at your nearest local Austrian embassy or consulate general.

For MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference Fall 2024, Annex II nationals can simply travel to the Schengen Area with their passport and do not need to worry about ETIAS because the European Commission has delayed its implementation until at least 2025.

Other countries

There is no policy requiring MediaWiki Users and Developers Conferences to only occur in the United States or Europe. However, the last SMWCon to occur outside of the United States or the Schengen Area was in Montréal, Canada over a decade ago. There has been low interest in holding the conferences outside of the U.S. and Europe.

However, if you are interested in organizing a conference in a new location, please do not be discouraged! We welcome anyone who wants to organize a MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference to please make a proposal. Change starts with you!