(in person) Official invitation to DC29 possible?

[Altairwood]

Unfortunately, I am now worried that the united states travel ban for Europeans will be lifted in time.
Despite a nationwide incidence of 5 and a vaccination rate close to 60% (I live in Germany) it does not look like a opening.

Since personal networking is quite important to me, I would like to attend the conference personally. Flight and hotel have been booked for a long time and my badge is paid.
The only (provident) possibility is to apply for a NIE permit.
However, to do this I need an invitation to the conference highlighting, my attendance "importance".
Since I know that colleagues from other departments can attend your conferences, I am wondering if I can accomplish this with Def Con as well.

Is there anyone here who can tell me about this or has an idea of who I could contact?

[number6]

Unfortunately, I am now worried that the united states travel ban for Europeans will be lifted in time.
Despite a nationwide incidence of 5 and a vaccination rate close to 60% (I live in Germany) it does not look like a opening.

Since personal networking is quite important to me, I would like to attend the conference personally. Flight and hotel have been booked for a long time and my badge is paid.
The only (provident) possibility is to apply for a NIE permit.
However, to do this I need an invitation to the conference highlighting, my attendance "importance".
Since I know that colleagues from other departments can attend your conferences, I am wondering if I can accomplish this with Def Con as well.

Is there anyone here who can tell me about this or has an idea of who I could contact?

Thanks for the question.

This is partly answered in the FAQ.

https://defcon.org/html/links/dc-faq/dc-faq.html

"Find on page" the text "I need a letter of invite for my visa application, how do I get that?"
It has a section on who to email for an invitation. That is the closest thing to a specialist on this topic as we have.

If you do get an answer about your specific case, whether it works out for you or not, would you please follow-up here with what you tried, the success or failure, and why is worked or didn't?

Other people may benefit from your experience, and it is possible the FAQ can be enhanced based on your experience and any results you can provide.

Thanks!


Also, it would be good for you to review what proof of vaccination you have available to you. Then maybe ask the same address which proofs of vaccination which you have access to that can be used when asked for proof of vaccination to pick up a badge to enter DEF CON. It is possible answers to that question are not yet known. I'd suggest identifying all methods you have available to you to provide proof of vaccination, then list them in a separate email to the same address, and ask which of those would satisfy the requirements for attending DEF CON. Having it in a separate email would probably be better than combining both into the same message, so you can keep focus for each independent.

[Jan H]

Hello,
I´m from the EU too. I need the letter of invitation too as soon as possible.
I sent mail to info@defcon.org with a request for the letter of invite a couple days ago. But nobody received it.
Actually I have full vaccination by Moderna.

I would like to attend Defcon 29 in-person too.

Jan

[Altairwood]

Hello,
I´m from the EU too. I need the letter of invitation too as soon as possible.
I sent mail to info@defcon.org with a request for the letter of invite a couple days ago. But nobody received it.
Actually I have full vaccination by Moderna.

I would like to attend Defcon 29 in-person too.

Jan

Did you also want to apply for a NIE? From which country are you?
I think the people who write it need a little more time than usual.
A normal invitation letter is probably too "weak".

[Altairwood]

If you do get an answer about your specific case, whether it works out for you or not, would you please follow-up here with what you tried, the success or failure, and why is worked or didn't?
Other people may benefit from your experience, and it is possible the FAQ can be enhanced based on your experience and any results you can provide.

It's a bit disappointing, but my mail (which I sent immediately after your post) went unanswered.
Therefore, I can only recommend to go other ways. More than three weeks without an answer is already quite a long time.

Too bad.

[number6]

It's a bit disappointing, but my mail (which I sent immediately after your post) went unanswered.
Therefore, I can only recommend to go other ways. More than three weeks without an answer is already quite a long time.

Too bad.

First suggestions I would provide include checking your spam/junk email folders to see if a reply was dumped into one of those.

I am able to answer questions about the forums, because I manage those, but I don't set policies or provide paperwork for international travellers to DEF CON. Usually, info@defcon.org is fairly responsive to requests made. I've heard other people have received replies to other questions over the last 3 weeks. This is why my first suggestion is to check your spam/junk mail.

Please let us know if you have no reply in your spam/junk folders or quarantined from delivery by a filter which denies even delivery to a spam/junk folder.

[The Dark Tangent]

We can not do NIE letters for attendees, we only do "standard" letters. I'm not sure went wrong with your request, I'll try and track it down. Sorry.

[Altairwood]

I found a solution myself, but waited until the last moment for an answer. But thanks anyway for the feedback.
I look forward to seeing you (and you guys) next week.

(I sent the mail on 28.6.21 at 12:43 CEST to info@defcon.org and my spam folder is clean).