The coronavirus has acted as a catalyst for a 50% hike in working visas for those wishing to travel to the U.S. An increase that will have a dire impact on international touring bands taking part in smaller-scale tours.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security quietly hiked the price for U.S. visas by more than 50%, in addition to changing core conditions and timeframes.
The hike will see filing fees for O visa petitions leap by 53% from US$460 to US$705 ($961) per petition and utilise a new Form I-129O. A slight decrease from original proposal for a new fee of US$715.
Filing fees for P visa petitions will jump 51% from US$460 to US$695 ($947) per petition, utilizing a new Form I-129MISC. The original proposal was for the revised fee of US$705.
In addition to the filing fees, the total number of individuals on a single petition will be capped at 25, and the Premium Processing Service — which carries an additional cost of US$1,440 ($1,964) — will implement a longer window to complete processing, from 15 calendar days to 15 business days.
This price hike will mark a deathblow for many international touring bands and artists intending to play more intimate, low-budget tours.
A report by MusicTech outlined just how difficult it will be for the live music industry to recover once pandemic restrictions lift with these new fees in place.
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“This is yet another nail in the coffin for UK artists to be able to tour the U.S., and a blow for cultural exchange in general,” says Dave Webster, the national organizer for live performance at the UK Musicians’ Union, via Pitchfork.
In a report published to Pitchfork, Tom Kiehl — acting CEO of UK Music, emphasised the severe impacts these new fees will have on British bands, in the wake of Brexit.
“It’s vital that British bands and artists can break America, the biggest music market in the world, but hikes in visa costs make this so much harder,” says Kiehl.
“For many, it’s a huge battle to break even on overseas tours. There is now a real risk that these increases will contribute to making U.S. tours unviable at what is already an immensely difficult time for the UK music industry. The UK Government needs to prioritise eliminating barriers to trade for touring musicians in a future U.S.-UK trade deal. President Trump needs to think again.”
U.S. visas have notoriously become more difficult and expensive to secure. Whilst the $245 increase in fees will burn a hole in the pockets of musicians, its still far from the only problem they face.
As Millie Millgate, Executive Producer of Sounds Australia, explains to The Industry Observer. “It’s the fees charged by lawyers — necessitated by the complexity of the process that is the problem, teamed with the fact that most visas applied for in the last year or so have been limited to the length of a singular tour and not for return activity over the course of multiple years.”
