Just like in the previous years, you will have to ensure that you (and your family) have the necessary visas for entering into Denmark i.e. the Schengen area (as well as any countries you may need to travel through). For that, we encourage you to apply as early as possible to ensure enough time for the Danish diplomatic missions to process your application. Don’t forget, a visa to travel to the UN Inter-Agency Games is solely your responsibility and the organizers can not be held liable for any costs arising through visa issues.
Schengen Visa
Denmark is part of the Schengen agreement, therefore if you already have a Schengen visa valid for the period you wish to stay in Denmark, you will be able to use that for your entry. We recommend that you travel with an official invitation letter to support your reason for traveling to Denmark.
Visa Free Countries
Denmark has agreements with many countries whose nationals thus not need a visa to travel to the Schengen countries. Please check the website of the Danish Immigration Service to see the list of visa-free countries.
UNLP
The Danish authorities support the use of UNLP’s for any event hosted by the UN agencies in Denmark and this includes the UN Interagency Games 2020. It is strongly recommended to bring your official invitation letter when traveling with your UNLP and be mindful in case you transit through other Schengen countries as they might not support the UNLP. An itinerary directly in and out of Denmark is recommendable.
Non-Visa Free Countries
If none of the above visa exceptions match your situation and nationality, you and your dependents (spouse/partner and children) will need to apply for a visa to enter Denmark. The following steps outline your journey to obtain a visa:
- Before you start your visa application(s), you must fill in some basic information in the following form: https://forms.gle/MBLRdaSxhwNnJF249 – Please fill in one per person. Pursuant to this entry, the organizing committee can generate a list of registered participants for the Games requiring a visa for submission to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They will share this information with all Danish Missions and countries representing Denmark for cross-referencing. Therefore, please ensure your information is accurate and complete! You can, however, edit your information at a later stage, if necessary. In case you receive any travel allowance or support from your UN agency, it will be beneficial to answer “Yes” to the respective question, as that will limit the need to prove a certain income available.
- Go to the ApplyVisa-portal https://applyvisa.um.dk/NVP.App/frontpage to enter your online application. Follow the steps listed under “How do I Apply?” There will be a fee of 80 Euros which is approx. 68USD. The fee will have to be paid upfront. The fee will be fully reimbursed to the credit card you used to pay the fee by the Danish Mission once the Danish Mission has checked that you are indeed exempted from paying the fee.
- If you wish to add a number of days for a private stay in Denmark it is possible and must be included in your online application (step1). You will have to prove, as part of the supporting documents to your application, that you have approx. 90USD per extra day to support yourself. You must also have a valid travel medical insurance valid for all Schengen countries and with a coverage of a minimum of 30.000 euros.
- After completing the online visa application, please print the cover letter and sign it. The next step is to hand in the signed cover letter with all mandatory supporting documents as well as your passport. Please consult the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark to determine where to lodge the application https://um.dk/en/travel-and-residence/where-to-apply/. In most countries, you must lodge the application at the nearest Visa Application Center (VAC) and you will have to pay a non-refundable fee to VAC of the equivalent in the local currency of approx. 10-30 euros.
- The Danish Mission or the Mission of the country representing Denmark requires a minimum of 15 days to handle the visa application.
- You may lodge your application up to 6 months before your intended entry into Schengen and you must lodge the application no later than 15 days before departure. So no excuse for not being in good time.
- We do not recommend that you purchase your air ticket until you have your visa confirmed, but instead make a reservation, which also serves as part of the supporting documentation.
- Don’t forget, there will be no reimbursement of registration fees for no-show due to visa-related problems, we can not stress this enough.
- For more information about visa to Denmark, please visit the website of the Danish Immigration Service or contact the UN Visa and registration unit on HQ [dot] Admin [at] unops [dot] org
We wish you good luck with your travel preparations and please get in contact should you need any help. Your first point of contact is always your Focal Point!
If one is registering for Men’s Volleyball and Also Beach Volleyball, what location are both venues to find something central and easily accessible
The UN mission in Iraq seems to be deprived from joining the games as it was the case last year when no one from Iraq could participate. The Portuguese consulate was not responsive to the applications submitted, while no other countries of the Schengen family were supportive to grant visas. Thus, nobody from the UN mission in Iraq could participate. This year seems to be having the same problem as the Danish mission instructions for visa application provides to submit the applications in person to the VFS Global branches of the neighboring countries like Iran or Turkey. We hope that the UN InterAgency Games colleagues could find a solution so that the Danish authorities accept submission of our applications through the VFS branches inside Iraq, as it is the case with many Schengen member EU countries.
What travel medical insurance would the organizing committee recommend? And where to get it? I have the empire blue cross blue shield insurance, offered by UN HQ, which has overseas coverage. Is that enough? Thank you!