• Question: He applied for his plane ticket and a message saying he would receive an invitation: does he need to apply within FCM or will I be sent something?

Answer: In terms of the invitation letter, if you went through the link that was sent to you from our team and applied through the events air site, then you shave have received the invitation letter and the local host letter.   For flight confirmation for visa purposes, this should have been sent directly to you from FCM.  If you have not received it, please let them know so they can confirm with FCM and within our archives as well.

• Question: Process is already approved, pending issue is to pick up passport with the visa, but do not have confirmation about the airfare plan I should be travelling.

Answer: In terms of the visa, if you have already applied and it’s currently in the process, we’ll review whether we can and whether we can issue the ticket or not, based on the visa application.

• Question: The per diem says $500 and that would not be enough for the number of day, according to what is typically paid per diem in ICANN. Should the per diem be for seven days?

Answer: That is the stipend amount that was provided to us, it has been budgeted for ATLAS III, so that is the amount that is going to be provided, it is not a per diem, it is a stipend.

• Question: The accommodation is a standard room for single occupancy, while filling the application, we were asked if we were going with a partner, and when we said yes, so what does that imply?

Answer: Whenever you we are going to be housed, you will be responsible in paying any double occupancy fee that the hotel may charge for having an extra guest in your room.  If you are the only one staying in your room, you will only pay for a single occupancy.  However, if you do have another person joining in your room, the hotel may ask and will require a double occupancy to be paid, separate of the ICANN, because ICANN’s already paying for you.  That would be under your financial consideration.

• Question: How do you make a wire transfer of the per diem, is there any option for the diem to be given in person in Montreal?

Answer: We stopped doing that in Kobe as of this year, we announced in Barcelona of last year that we would have a phase-out approach when it comes to the onsite payment.  We have officially stopped it, what we are doing is to basically wire transfer all of the stipends to our funded travelers.  That means you would need to have your bank account information, in order for us to wire your stipend to your account, or pay you back for visa fees and etc.

• Question: How will the reimbursement be made in regards to the visa expense? Do we have to send the supporting documentation of payments made or is the money to be reimbursement at just the cost of the visa?

Answer: We do have a maximum of $200 US of allowable expense.  In policy as well, it doesn’t highlight what is allowed and what is covered. 

• Question: Will the stipend cost be reimbursed before the trip and also the cost of the visa?

Answer: There will be no more onsite payment anymore, the finance department has added an extra $25 for all wire transfer fees.  They actually added an extra $25 for all wire transfer fees to pay any additional banking fees that you may incur when you receive – whether it’s a stipend of the reimbursement back to us.  We try to cover as much as we can because you already pay fees on when we send a wire transfer.  Any additional fees that your bank may charge you, we have also taken that into consideration by adding the extra $25.  That is automatically done when we wire the funds to you.

• Question: When we send our itinerary to the Embassy, wouldn’t it look weird that we are going for a meeting that going to be starting on the 2^nd through the 7^th, but we’re actually leaving the country on that day of the meeting?

Answer: The ATLAS III meeting is going to be happening on Monday, the 4^th, all ATLAS III travelers will arrive on the 3^rd.  If you need proof that you are attending the meeting, there is also the schedule that you can provide proof of when the ATLAS III is happening.  Even though our meeting is happening on the 2^nd.

• Question: Can we use Western Union for the transfer instead of a banking institution?

Answer: Yes, I believe there is a way to just use Western Union instead of wiring the funds through your bank.  Our finance department has strict guidelines that if you have a bank, that we must wire your stipend or any reimbursable amounts.

• Question: Is there a change in policy in regards to making my itinerary or if there is going to be a change in the near future?

Answer: We should book your travel, meaning there shouldn’t be any reason why FCM can’t book your travel, for us and for you, because they can match your itinerary exactly.  If there is some latency regarding to when they respond to you, please let us know and we can make sure we address it is as a service for us. 

• Question: Are we going to get the stipend money before Montreal?

Answer: As long as the sequence of the bookings must be completed, they must be complete in their airfare and visa. 

• Question: What is the maximum approved travel allowance for each participant?

Answer: We provide you with a $500 stipend, which you can do what you need to do, that should be covering your meals and incidentals.

• Question: Will ICANN pay for the insurance fees, apart from the legal fees, and per diem?

Answer: Yes, if it is required for you to have travel insurance for your visa application, that is allowable per the travel guidelines and policy that have funding travelers.

• Question: Is it possible that our names are sent to the Embassy so we will see that ICANN’s expecting the delegates to attend the meeting?

Answer: They have already done that as well, we sent the names to our local host, who will send it to the diplomatic missions for them to ensure that we have travelers here. 

• Question: The issue of banking, in my country, whether it’s dollar or UGX, the amount of money that going to be used.

Answer: We are adding an extra $25 to each per diem wire transfer, or any time we do a reimbursement to help offset some of the costs. 

• Question: What do I need to do, if I arrive a day earlier than what is scheduled on my itinerary? Will it affect the flights or the airfare?  When I pay the difference, do I pay directly to you?

Answer: You will need to send the request directly through the FCM and the FCM will confirm whether they’ll confirm the price cost.  We do an analysis on our end to confirm whether your request is within reason for us to approve it.    The difference will be paid directly to FCM by credit card.

• Question: My visa application is completed, only pending task is to pick up in Buenos Aires. I am about to make the booking of the airfares through FCM, because that is not completed yet.  I’d like to know if that can be solved as soon as possible. The number of per diem days I have is 6.5 days and I think it should be 7, I do not live in Buenos Aires, that is why I have this additional expense.

Answer: You will need to ensure you have your visa on hand prior to ticketing.  If you have your visa, you will be approved of your Canadian visa, then we can review the itinerary and issue the itinerary.  This is the reason why your ticket is being issue, because we have to make sure that you have your visa.   In regards, to the living allowance for ATLAS III, it’s my understanding that is it’s a stipend, not a per diem. 

• Question: My question is on the engagement with the Newland Chase. I don’t know if there are some specifics that they should be made to collect as information.  Are some specifics that they should be made to collect as information?  I want to find out if there is specific information they should be collecting from us. 

Answer: The scope of work for Newland Chase is to review the visa application.  In order for them to do that, they’ll need to see your visa application and information that is potentially required to apply.  If you do not feel comfortable providing that information directly to Newland Chase, you can opt out and not use them as a service.  What they are helping us with and travelers is to ensure that the visa application is as complete as possible, that there is no mistake. 

• Question: When do you expect our names will be at the local embassies in our countries, so they already have the information about the ICANN meeting?

Answer: There is no timeline on when that has been sent or will be sent.  We do have the event code already, that should be in your invitation letter and you can use that when you apply.