Practical information for granted participants – Impact Pioneers ’24

1. How to accept our offer and confirm your spot

Review programme information

Before accepting our offer and confirming your participation, we ask you to review the Programme overview and the Code of Conduct. Find these documents attached (PDF) to the letter of acceptance email, sent from DreamApply (our application portal software).

How to accept the offer and confirm your spot

To formally accept your seat in the programme you must fill out the Acceptance survey before the specified deadline. Information about and link to the Acceptance survey is sent in a separate email, shortly after the acceptance email. If you didn’t receive an email with the information and survey link, please check your spam folder. If you do not find it there, or have other issues accessing the Acceptance survey, please reach out to the programme administrator.

2. How to get started with your travel booking

The Swedish Institute covers the expenses for one round-trip to Sweden, to attend the on-site meeting, referred to as the Sweden week, as well as accommodation, transport, meals and activities during this week. Please note that all bookings must be done via the travel agency FCM Travel, with whom The Swedish Institute has a booking service support agreement. Travel booking support contact information will be shared in an email, and we will ask you to fill out a booking request form for your tickets on a separate website. The travel agency will book you in economy class on the most reasonably priced route. The travel agency will provide the Swedish Institute with your flight details.

Please note that the travel agency might need up to 7-10 days to process your travel booking support request. Also, kindly note that once you have confirmed the flight ticket, it will be difficult to change it. If you need to change your confirmed ticket, a fee will be applied. After the flight booking is made, we kindly ask you to highly respect your commitment to participation in the programme and the Sweden visit. Please note that in cases where mandatory elements of the programme are not fulfilled by participants, flights and accommodation will be cancelled.

Important note: 

• It is a common wish to extend the stay in Sweden beyond the event dates, arriving a few days before and/or departing a few days after the Sweden week programme. Managing these special requests is a big administrative task for the travel agency, so please help out by clearly specifying any wish for special requests for travel dates in the specified field of the travel booking support form, to facilitate their work.
  
  

• If there are changes to your stay dates, the cost of the flight ticket must not exceed the price of the cheapest ticket available on the official program dates. Any additional costs incurred must be covered by the participant. Participants are requested not to bring any additional guests during the program. Our logistical arrangements are meticulously planned, and we cannot accommodate guests or additional persons.

• Should extend your stay in Sweden beyond the event dates, you will need to organise accommodation and insurance for this extended stay at your own expense. Also keep in mind that the invitation letter from the Swedish Institute (for your VISA application) is only valid for the Sweden week event dates (Oct 20-26), so you may need a new invitation letter from another party to cover the dates for your extended stay to complete your visa application.

3. How to get started with your visa application process

Please note that the process for VISA application is separate from the travel booking and that you must start researching the process yourself. You must start this process soon as possible and in some instances, book a physical meeting appointment. How to know if you need a visa for travel into Sweden (Schengen area)?
Please review this list of countries with visa requirement

It’s important that you apply for a single-entry Schengen visa that covers your entire stay in Sweden Read more about this visa type here

Please check your local embassy website for more information about the procedure and the documents needed in your application. Please also make sure your passport is valid for the time period requested by the embassy before applying: Find contact information your local Swedish embassy here

If your country does not have a Swedish embassy/consulate, or if the embassy/consulate does not process visa applications?

Please note that in some cases the Swedish embassies cooperate with other European embassies or VFS Global on visa matters.

What final documents are needed for the visa process?

Final necessary documents to process the visa are as listed below. Instructions and required documents will be sent to your email.

• Flight booking confirmation
• Invitation letter
• Insurance certificate
• Hotel confirmation letter

Timeline

Visa processing procedure and timelines vary greatly between countries. We expect you to obtain your visa some weeks in advance before your trip to Sweden. Please note that the Swedish Institute has no influence over the final decision in the visa application process. If you have problems with your visa process, please let the programme administrator know.

Payment for visa expenses

Please be prepared to pay for the visa expenses. The Swedish Institute will unfortunately not be able to reimburse you for the visa fee.

4. How is accommodation & transfer in Sweden arranged?

The Swedish Institute will also book your accommodation and your transfers from the airport to the hotel. The travel agency will take recommended programme arrival and departure dates and times into account when booking your flight ticket.

Important notes:

• The Swedish Institute does not cover the cost for transfer to the airport/train station in your country.

4. Other practicalities

We will use the softwares Howspace and Zoom for digital activities and sessions. Information and guidelines will be shared with you. Also, Whatsapp is normally used for communication across the group during the stay in Sweden.

5. Contact information to programme administrator

Please reach out to the Impact Pioneers ‘24 programme administrator if you have questions in reg. to the practical information above.