Out of Country Guests

summersolstice1123

This isn't really an etiquette question exactly.. But I studied abroad and made a lot of really great friends that I want to invite to my wedding. I'm totally understanding of the fact that most of them can't make it because of the cost, but one of my friends is from Poland and I really want for her to be a BM.

She has the funds to come and really wants to come. But today she sent me a message and said that she was really worried that she won't get a visa to come.

I've noticed in a lot of threads that several of you seem to be knowledgeable about international related issues.

Do you have any advice or "words of wisdom" that I can give her and any of my other guests that would come but would have to get a visa?
It was a pretty big culture shock for me that she couldn't just come with a passport, but I knew this awhile ago. But, I guess I took for granted that it was easy for me to get my Austrian visa and I didn't need a visa to visit her in Poland.  

Any feedback would be so very much appreciated!
(Also, the wedding would be September 2015 if that helps at all. I wanted to plan it far enough away that I could give them a heads up if they wanted to go through the visa process.)

STARMOON44

Mea culpa, edited to remove inaccurate info.



I don't think you need to give anyone a heads up though, beyond a save the date.

summersolstice1123

I've read over that page and the wording implied that not everyone who applies gets it. She's had friends who had trouble trying to go NYC for a trip and she is very nervous that it won't be a smooth process for her. I was really just looking to see if anyone else and been through this situation before and had some advice or comforting things I could say to her. 

And there are a lot more expenses for people traveling from out of the country and most are in graduate school. I wanted to give people a heads so that they could plan for things like renewing passports, obtaining what they needed to come here because several are in countries are not on the membership list, and to save if they wanted to save to come. Most of us are coming out of undergrad or finishing grad school. I'd need a year or more to plan on attending a wedding out of the country for sure.

huskypuppy14

I don't see Poland on that list...

manateehugger

I don't really have any advice except to give her advance notice of everything. 

I had relatives from India attend my wedding. They needed visas, but I was completely not involved in that process. I assume they got them just fine since they arrived. I've also gotten visas to travel abroad a few times. You pretty much just throw your application into the pool and wait for word to get back to you. 

I'd just tell her that you know it's hit or miss whether she'll be able to attend and you're just happy she's trying to be there.