Visitors entering Canada must posses a valid passport and where necessary a valid visa. The following link details those countries whose nationals require a visa in order to visit Canada : http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.html.

Visa applications may take several months to be processed. It is therefore recommended that participants contact the nearest Canadian Embassy/Consulate/High Commission to establish the application process and any region specific requirements. Moreover, attendees should apply (to the Canadian Embassy/Consulate/High Commission) for a travel visa as early as possible. In some cases this should be no later than March 15 2006 to ensure adequate time for the government to process the application.

The following link provides a list of Canadian Visa Offices throughout the World: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/offices/missions.html in which an application can be submitted.

Here are some additional travel-related links for the Canadian government:
•  Entry Requirements.
•  Customs and Borders.
•  GST Refund Requirements.
•  Letter of Invitation for Countries Whose Citizens Require a Temporary Resident Visa to Enter Canada .
•  Application for a Temporary Resident Visa to Visit Canada .

WCCI 2006 Operating Committee is not responsible for establishing your travel arrangements or obtaining visas. However, in order to assist with the travel visa application process, we will provide upon request a letter of invitation to attend WCCI 2006 to authors of papers that have been submitted and to non-authors who have paid the conference registration fee. The invitation "letter" will normally be provided in the form of a pdf file via email. In rare cases your embassy may request that a paper letter be mailed to you, which can also be provided.

If you wish to receive a visa invitation letter, then submit the information listed below:

William Neil Howell, WCCI2006 International Liaison Chair
(Email) BillHowell<@>rogers.com
(Phone) +1-613-992-1589 work; +1-613-265-5696 home

Include:
•  your full name (as it appears on your passport) - please use CAPITAL letters for your family name (also called your last name or surname);
•  your "pre-title" (Dr., Mr., Ms.);
•  your job title (BS/MS/PhD student, Research Associate, Assistant Professor, Director of something, Research Scientist (companies/ government) etc.);
•  your affiliation (university, company, organisation etc.);
•  postal address (this may be either your work or home address, whichever you prefer), make sure that you include room number (if required), building, street, city, state, postal code and country;
•  arrival and departure dates of your visit to Canada;
•  email address, and phone number (home or work);
•  date of birth;
•  citizenship;
•  sex; and
•  your WCCI paper submission number and title(s) where applicable.

It would be appreciated if you would use a format as per the example below (no indentation or special formatting):

Mr. William Neil HOWELL, Scientific Research Program Manager
Natural Resources Canada
Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories
555 Booth Street room 342a
Ottawa , Ontario K1A 0G1 , CANADA
BillHowell@rogers.com home phone: +1-613-265-5696
Arrival and departure dates for Canada:  12 & 24 July 2006
Date of birth: 25 February 1956
Citizenship: Canadian
Sex:  Male
2074 - Genetic specification of recurrent neural networks: Initial thoughts
This information is required for your letter of invitation from the WCCI 2006 Operating Committee, but it does not give you a visa or guarantee that the Canadian mission will grant a visa. Please allow 3 days for an email response, or 3 weeks for delivery of a "paper mail" invitation letter.

Participants are responsible for conference registration, paying appropriate fees for WCCI 2006 activities, as well as assuming full responsibility for any travel and accommodation expenses.