ILL visitors - travel and reimbursement policy

In order to speed up the reimbursement process, you are kindly asked to follow our reimbursement regulations for visitors.
A carefully prepared reimbursement claim will save a lot of time and effort for yourself and the Travel Office team and other services involved. 
We advise you to consult the general guidelines before every trip, as the regulations can be modified from time to time.

All visitors are asked to make their own travel arrangements, in compliance with the current reimbursement regulations for visitors.

There are specific reimbursement rules for different categories of visitor:

- Users (experimentalists)
- Job Applicants, Interns/Trainees and Newly Employed: for specific information please contact recruitment(at)ill.eu
- Seminar Speakers please follow the general guidelines below. Other information will be communicated by the College Secretary or Group Secretary
- Subcommittee and Scientific Council members will be informed directly of the reimbursement procedures

Visitors are encouraged to keep their travel expenses cost-effective, i.e. to buy return tickets, to make use of discounts and special offers whenever possible.

All non-standard travel options (e.g. modification of a normal itinerary, adding extra days to the visit, use of a non-authorised means of transport, etc.) should be agreed with the appropriate ILL department before the visit.

Advance payments are not possible.

1. Reimbursement claims are accepted for processing within six months after the final date of the visit.
2. Expenses are reimbursed to a visitor, not to his/her laboratory/university even, if the latter paid for the travel.
3. With regards to the above-mentioned, visitors are requested to provide their personal bank details (bank name, SWIFT/BIC, IBAN).
4. Visitors from outside the European Union are requested to provide their home address in addition to their bank details (may vary for different countries).
5. Expenses are reimbursed by bank transfer following the submission of the claim form.
6. Reimbursement in cash is possible in certain cases.
7. Expenses can be reimbursed only if they are justified by valid documents (see below).

1. The visitor fills out the relevant claim form provided by the ILL.
2. The claim form should be filled out clearly; all expenses should be listed separately, in their original currencies, and accompanied by the respective receipts.
3. The claim form may be submitted in person to the Travel Office or sent by post.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. All documents should be originals unless issued electronically (we cannot accept scanned or photocopied documents!).
2. Replacement of an original document by its photocopy or scan may be justified in the following cases:
   - the original has to be kept by the visitor’s university/laboratory, which paid for the travel;
   - the visitor keeps the original return ticket for his/her return trip, the ILL Travel Office having made a copy of the original;
   - in case of partial reimbursement or reimbursement of a fixed sum, the visitor may wish to claim the rest from his home laboratory/university;
   - the original is lost or cannot be obtained at a reasonable expense.
3. Lost or missing tickets (not attached to the claim form but claimed) are not reimbursed.
4. Unpaid bills, invoices, purchase orders, etc. are not accepted for reimbursement without proof of travel or payment.

DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED

1. Hotel accommodation (including visitors with per diems):
   - paid invoice;
   - unpaid invoice + payment confirmation (receipt, credit card statement, copy of remittance advice, etc.).
2. Meals:
   - paid restaurant bill (if not a fixed sum).
3. Travel:
   Air:
   - physical ticket or e-ticket with payment confirmation;
   - booking confirmation + boarding passes (hard copies or electronically issued) or payment confirmation;
   - paid invoice + flight itinerary or boarding passes;
   - unpaid invoice + flight itinerary + payment confirmation or boarding passes;
   - payment confirmation with flight itinerary.
   Rail:
   - physical tickets or e-tickets with payment confirmation;
   - booking confirmation + payment confirmation;
   - paid invoice + itinerary details;
   - unpaid invoice + itinerary details + payment confirmation.
   Public transport and taxis:
   - taxis are only reimbursed if no public transport is available and their use can be justified;
   - provide tickets and receipts duly dated.
   Car:
   - for mileage reimbursement: motorway toll or fuel receipts as proof of itinerary, if available;
   - in case of exceptional reimbursement of motorway toll and fuel: motorway toll and fuel receipts, respectively;
   - in case of exceptional reimbursement of parking: parking receipts.