This year, The Document Foundation (TDF) invited me to attend the LibreOffice conference in Milan, Italy. In order to travel to Italy, I needed a visa.
To apply for the same, I had to book an appointment with VFS Global and submit the required documents. The conference was to be held from the 28th of September to the 1st of October 2022. I started checking for visa appointments on the 10th of August. However, I got no available slots in Delhi. I also checked the availability of appointments in other cities. I saw appointments were available in Kolkata, which is pretty far from where I live, and I didn’t want to spend that much time and money for the visa.
After looking up for appointments at the VFS Delhi center for 8 consecutive days, I got one for the 22nd of August. During my appointment, I was informed by the staff that I had applied in the wrong category - tourist. They told me further that if my purpose of travel is to attend a conference, then the category of application should be “business” or “invitation.” Therefore, I was advised to book another appointment in the correct category. It was not a visa refusal. I didn’t get to pay for my visa fee or submit my documents.
I tried to book another appointment in the correct category meant for attending conferences, but didn’t get any slots for days, and so I finally gave up in mid-September and told the conference organizers that I wouldn’t be able to join.
Finally, I would like to end this post by thanking TDF for inviting me to the conference and offering to sponsor my costs. It is unfortunate that I could not attend.