Only activities of a scientific nature may be sponsored. Consequently, if registration fees of a scientific event organized by healthcare professionals include a social activity (meals are not considered to be as such, contrary to a sightseeing tour or attendance at a show, etc.), there are two options:
- the company does not sponsor the registration fee,
- the company does sponsor the registration fee, minus the cost of these activities. If the organizer of the event has not stated the cost of the social activity, a reasonable estimate of the cost must be made.
When an event is organized by a company, hospitality costs must be indicated separately in the boxes provided for that purpose in the visa application form (lunch, dinner, coffee break, transport and overnight stays). The outstanding balance of the registration fee should appear in the section ‘registration’ (‘inscription’). In other words, the company must not simply state an ‘all-inclusive’ global sum per participant.
When an event is organized by a third party and the registration fee also includes hospitality, attention must be made to avoid any doubling-up. i.e. : the offering of the cost of a meal when this already appears in the registration fee (e.g. lunch symposium), which is not admissible even though the company would not sponsor the registration fee.
Yes, this is mandatory when the participation to a scientific event organised by healthcare professionals is sponsored, regardless of whether or not the registration is offered and regardless of whether or not there is a registration fee. Indeed, the visa application form asks to attach this justificatif even if the registration is not sponsored.
A justificatif must be added of 1) the price and 2) of what is included in the registration fee (lunch, dinner, social activity, etc.) and of its amount. If there is no registration fee, a justificatif of what the organiser offers as hospitality must be added.
The document to be attached has to be:
- either a print screen from the conference website (no email nor invoice of the organiser), that clearly mentions what is included in the registration fee (careful: make sure that the print screen is large enough to show the source of it)
- or, in the absence of information on the conference website, the congress organiser must complete the following model of sworn statement: model of sworn statement – registration. After completing the statement, the organiser must affix a handwritten signature and his stamp (in case of absence of a stamp, it must be printed on the stationery of the organisation), then convert the document to PDF and send it to the company to be attached to the visa application.
Example of what is included in the registration’s fee:
Registration fee includes:
- Access to the scientific sessions
- Congress material
- Lunches on day xyz
- Diner on day xyz
- Social activity (cost/pp is … EUR)
- Welcome reception
- Etc.
Please note that if it concerns a scientific event organised by a pharmaceutical or medical device company (even if it is not the submitting company itself), no justificatif should be added. Although, in that case, every offered hospitality must be detailed (€) in section B4 of the visa application (e.g. price of the offered lunch, dinner, coffee break, overnight stay, etc.), even if it is not offered by the submitting company itself (but, e.g., by another entity in the same group).
If it concerns a scientific event organised by a pharmaceutical or medical device company, no justificatif needs be added. Although, in that case, every offered hospitality must be detailed (€) in the boxes provided for that purpose in the visa application (e.g. price of the offered lunch, dinner, coffee break, overnight stay), even if it is not offered by the submitting company itself (but, e.g., by another entity in the same group or another pharmaceutical or medical device company).