Wikimania 2017

Wikimania 2017 is the 13th International Wikimedia Conference, held in Montreal, Canada during August 9 - 13, 2017.

Participants
List of registered participants, who planned to attend (with or without a scholarship from WMF or WMIN). This list helped us to coordinate travel logistics and other plans specific to Wikipedians from the sub-continent.

Travel
Travel to Canada can take anywhere from 20 hours to 40 hours based on transit locations and connecting flights. Please make sure you take transits only through countries which do not need a transit visa. Otherwise, you need to spend money, effort and time for getting additional visas. Even after that getting visa may be difficult if you need to change flights in countries like UK or US. Looks like Lufthansa and Emirates flights can take you through Dubai which doesn't need Visa.

Plan your starting date from India considering the long travel and time needed for rest / adjusting to jet lag before joining the conference. People planning to attend Hackathon or other pre-conference events can plan to arrive in Montreal,Canada by August 8th, 2017.

Visa
The Canada Visa application is quite user-friendly and obtaining a tourist visa should be easy. There are two ways to apply for a visitor visa: online or on paper.

Online option is easier, however, it might be difficult since it is required to sign ‘electronically’ with a digital signature. Hence a paper application is a practical option. If you need help with your application, you may have to contact the nearest visa application centre (VAC) VACs are spread quite evenly across India & will not need an Interview at the Candaian Embassy. Total Visa Costs will be around INR 7,000. The processing time for visiting visas is stated as 23 days, but it is advisable that the application should be submitted at least 45 days before travel schedule.