If you are a track participant planning to attend the TAC KBP workshop in Gaithersburg, MD, and need an invitation letter for visa purposes, send an email request to Lori Buckland (lori.buckland@nist.gov) explaining exactly what the invitation letter must include, and including the following information in your request:

1. visa recipient's full name EXACTLY as it should appear in the invitation letter
2. complete address to which the invitation letter should be sent (P.O. boxes are not acceptable)
3. whether the letter should be sent by email, fax, or physical mail
• email: the letter will be scanned and emailed as a pdf attachment
• fax: please provide the recipient's fax number
• physical mail: please provide a telephone number to be used for the shipping form. N.B.: Physical mail has additional delays in that mail to some countries must first be reviewed by a separate office at NIST.

It is advisable to start the visa process very early. Over the past several years it has become increasingly time-consuming to obtain a US visa. In some years there have been people who planned to attend the workshop but who were unable to do so because they could not get a visa in time. By U.S. law, NIST staff cannot intervene on your behalf in any way to expedite the visa process.

If you are planning to attend the 2013 TAC KBP Workshop and your passport is from: Cuba, Iran, Sudan, or Syria, you must contact Lori Buckland no later than October 15, 2013, as additional information is required from you.