By Linbo Gong and Viet Dinh
As ASW gears up for its international events, one issue sometimes shadows its preparations: the challenge of visa acquisition. This year, a few students from schools part of CEESA and SCIS activities have grappled with bureaucratic hurdles, casting uncertainty over their participation in school events.
One of the earliest challenges emerged during the first sports season, notably impacting many students from Turkey and China. This was evident in the multi-sport tournament scheduled in Israel, featuring events like football and volleyball. Linbo G., a Chinese grade-11 varsity volleyball player, faced difficulties in obtaining a visa for Turkey.
According to Linbo, he looked into how to acquire a visa for Israel, and discovered that he needed both parents to be present. Because his dad was in China at the time, he was unable to acquire the visa.
Linbo’s situation is not the only one, as, according to him, “Half of our varsity volleyball team are Chinese.”
Hongbo Wang, another grade 11 volleyball player, went to the Israeli Embassy in person to inquire about a visa and got the same reply about needing both parents to be there. Hongbo also had one parent out of town and thus ended up also without a visa.
Xinbei, a third volleyball player, applied for an Israeli visa online, but canceled the application when the trip was canceled.
The visa difficulties had been a subject of speculation among the students. School officials, however, seemed unaware of the issue. Mr. Errickson, the girls’ soccer team coach, dismissed rumors, claiming to have not heard anything about the visa complications.
Israeli student visas cost 207 PLN, according to visalounge.com. This cost was to be added to the already hefty sum of 2000 zloty required for the trip, leaving many parents hesitant.
According to Dr. Taylor, an ASW Speech and Debate coach, at least one member of the Istanbul Speech & Debate team was not able to travel to the CEESA tournament at ASW in early December due to a rejected visa application. Istanbul is outside the Schengen Zone, an area with 27 member countries allowing free movement between the borders.
As we look ahead to the upcoming HS CEESA Robotics event scheduled for February 4th-5th next year in Bucharest, Romania, questions about potential visa complications have arisen. Romania, not being a part of the Schengen Zone, might pose similar challenges.
However, Mr. Miele, the Middle School robotics teacher and supervisor for the Middle and High School after-school robotics club, offers a ray of hope. Based on last year’s experience, he is optimistic. “We didn’t face any issues with visas for the high school CEESA robotics event held there last year,” he said.
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