Logistics

Introduction to our venue and location

This year, we’ll be hosting the conference at the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) Blagoevgrad campus. Blagoevgrad, a 1.5 hour drive from Sofia, is a smaller town than our “typical” Global Conference location so we will be reimagining the conference experience by staying in multiple hotels throughout the area and keeping everyone connected to the venues and each other via a conference shuttle bus.

Travel Guidance

Before registering for the conference, you will need to book your travel to and from Blagoevgrad. It is your responsibility to book your flight or train to Sofia, and from there Teach For All will provide transportation to Blagoevgrad for those who need it.

The guidelines below indicate what day you should arrive in Bulgaria, and when you should depart based on the conference schedule. We have listed these dates according to the different attendee types. If you have any questions about which attendee category you fall into please contact us.

The conference officially begins the morning of Tuesday 25th October. Hotel accommodations will be available from the evening of Monday 24th October. If you are attending a school visit, we will provide accommodation from Sunday October 23rd. If you are opting into any other optional activities, you will be responsible for your accommodation on October 23rd. We will provide meals beginning on Tuesday morning.

Optional Activities

On Monday, we will offer a set of optional activities or you may choose to use the time to rest and adjust to the local time zone. These activities involve local tours of Blagoevgrad, a trip to the Rila Monastery (estimated cost is $10-20USD per person), and community visits to Teach For Bulgaria schools.

This year, we are taking a different approach to community engagement at the conference and will not be having the "traditional" school visits as part of the three days of programming. Instead, we are offering to arrange an additional hotel night for anyone who would like to arrive early on Sunday 23rd October and spend a full day in the community on Monday. This additional night will not be available for those not attending the school visits. Please indicate your commitment to attend in your registration form.

Arrival and Departure Guidelines

*As you evaluate flight options, please consider that travel time between Blagoevgrad and Sofia airport is about 1.5 hours. We will provide transportation for everyone who is arriving within the below date guidelines, including for late night arrivals.*

For your convenience, we have our travel agents at Key Travel available to help book your flights, which you will need to pay for via credit card payment. If you’d like to use this service please visit this page. To submit a quote request, select The 2016 Teach For All Global Conference from the drop down menu and an agent will be in touch with you.

Where applicable, Teach For All will be arranging transportation from Sofia Airport to our conference hotels.

Registration for the Global Conference will be open from 25th May to 25th July, 2016.

In order to register for this event, you’ll need to check your email to access your personalized registration invitation. Invitations will be sent to all confirmed attendees on May 25th. If you have not received one and feel that you should have, contact us.

Before Registering

Before clicking through to your personalized registration link, please purchase your flights using the travel guidelines above. 

Registration forms with invalid flight information will not be honored. Valid flight information must be entered into the system in order to complete your registration.

After Registering

Once your registration form is complete and has been submitted, you should receive a confirmation email with next steps. Please be sure to read this email carefully as it may require action on your part to complete your registration.

Teach For All will follow up with more detailed logistics information closer to the event date using the email address you provide upon registration.

Registration process

If you already have a Partner Learning Portal account you will need your login information for your registration. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one by clicking on your registration link. Please make note of the username and password you choose—all of the information you need to attend the Global Conference will be hosted on this website, and you will need your login credentials to access the detailed agenda, logistics information, and attendance list from your computer, tablet, or mobile device.

After you have created your account, an email will be sent to you asking you to confirm your account. Please do so right away, as you may otherwise have problems logging back in again.

Please make sure to check here if you are in need of a visa! If you have a Schengen visa that is valid for your entire stay in Bulgaria, you do not need to apply for a visa for Bulgaria.

If you need a visa to Bulgaria, please start your application as soon as possible and reach out to the conference support team IMMEDIATELY so that we can prepare any necessary supporting documentation as described below.

The information below is only for entry into Bulgaria. If you are transiting through a third country, you need to check with the embassy/consulate of that country whether or not you need a transit visa. For example, visas to Bulgaria do not apply for the whole of Schengen (the visa-free zone within the European Union). So if you touch down in Frankfurt, you may need a separate transit visa for Germany.

Visa information and consulates/embassies

You can find information about Bulgarian visas as well as the contact details of their foreign embassies and consulates on the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

Visa type and requirements

Please apply for a visa type C (Planned Stay visa).

You will need a number of documents to support your visa application; they are described in detail in this document on pages 2-3. Please make sure you read it carefully so you can arrange for that (including for the necessary travel insurance that Teach For All does not provide). Please make sure you reach out to your consulate or embassy to verify which additional documents you need.

Invitation Declaration

If you need to apply for a visa, you will need an invitation declaration which needs approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. The Ministry will send approved names to the individual consulates and embassies.

This takes time, so please send the following information to the Conference Support Team to request an invitation letter.

• Full name (as written in your passport):
• Nationality:
• Date of birth:
• Place of birth:
• Passport number:
• Date of issuance:
• Date of expiry:

We would advise you to plan out the visa process carefully beginning immediately, especially because all visa applications need to be submitted in person so that biometrical data can be collected. We recommend that you:

• Find the closest embassy/consulate for you
• Collect all the documents you need and fill out the application form
• Inquire with the embassy/consulate in advance how long it takes to receive a visa appointment so you can manage that process
• Inquire with the embassy/consulate about the process of application, especially whether you need to apply in person
• You may need to travel (even internationally) to the nearest embassy/consulate, so please make sure that you have cross checked this with any other travel dates you have on your calendar.

If you need to apply for a visa, your passport/travel document must fulfill the following requirements:

• Valid for more than 3 months after the day of the planned departure from Bulgaria
• Contains at least 2 blank pages for visa purposes
• Has been issued within the last 10 years

Your health and safety during the conference is important to us.

Please take a moment to review this document from International SOS, our partner for health and safety issues and brief information specifically about travel to Bulgaria. Please also make sure to have medical and/or travel insurance as you would have for travel to any other destination. We will not be providing additional insurance for this event.

Transportation During the Conference: For all excursions outside of the hotel during the conference, including airport transfers, transport to the conference sites, community visits, and restaurant dinners, Teach For All will provide safe and secure coach transportation and/or walking instructions. Attendees will never be expected to travel anywhere alone. Teach For All staff will be on the ground at all times and contactable by phone 24 hours a day throughout the conference.

The conference organizers are in regular communication with the ISOS team. Any crucial changes in our Safety and Security advice before the conference will be communicated to all attendees.