UK musicians in uproar over 250% US visa price hike
NewsUK Music, the industry lobbying body, is asking Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch (pictured) to negotiate with Washington for a reduction in newly prohibitive visa fees for performers.
The letter says: ‘On 4 Jan 2023, the US Department Of Homeland Security announced a proposed increase in filing/petition fees for certain types of touring visa fees for non-US citizens”.
‘The proposals mean that petition fees for the P visa – used for acts to perform temporarily in the US – will increase by 251% from $460 (£385) to $1,615 (£1,352). Meanwhile, the O visa – used for a longer-term working visit – would climb by 260% from $460 (£385) to $1,655 (£1,375).
‘In both cases, these fees would each include a $600 (£499) surcharge to support the US asylum process. It is inherently unfair that musicians in the UK are being burdened with the bill for US immigration policy.’
Don’t hold your collective breaths for any prompt action.
Years ago visa for a German orchestra cost already around 50.000€ – travel expenses for those who have no US embassy in their hometown not included (each member has to appear in person)
What’s the attraction to performing in the U.S. and A.?
the same attraction for performing in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Tokyo, Hong Kong…large cities with a lot of wealthy people who love classical music.
Musical groups who wish to perform in the U.S. of A. think it’s attractive enough to fight the proposed fee increases.
UK Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin said: “America is one of the most important global markets for British musicians, and breaking into the States can be critical to a musician or band’s career – but this increase in visa fees risks making a US tour unaffordable for emerging acts.
“These deeply damaging proposals would be catastrophic, both for UK artists and for their American audiences who have a huge appetite for British music. These plans must be scrapped.”
These performers I suspect think that it looks good on their CVs that if they’ve performed all over the world via jet planes, and America included, and better than the ones who have a real quality life with their families they’ve chosen to have, and work out of Britain and Ireland, and some of the EU. America probably also trying, and quite rightly, to keep jobs for American professional musicians.
I don’t understand why the UK musicians don’t just hop a flight to Mexico and then simply walk across the border – if they bring some fentanyl with them they may even get a ride to NYC or Chicago.
America has streamlined importing 3rd world culture while working hard to keep high (old white European) culture across the pond.
Well you can thank Republicans for the free bus ride, and Republicans as well for the useless “War” on drugs which has created such an environment, and profit hungry pharmaceutical companies for addicting a populace. As for keeping old white European culture away, I’ve been reading nothing but raves about Vienna’s recent three concert stand with Thielemann at Carnegie Hall in the heart of that post-apocalyptic crime ridden hell hole (where the murder rate is lower than Giuliani days)… Playing Brahms, Strauss and Bruckner to sold out audiences while up the street, Francois Girard’s mega-Aryan take on Lohengrin is sailing along just fine.
I am disturbed by the huge increase in application fees however the performers do not pay them. It is paid by the presenter/presenting organization in the US. Thus, it’s not quite accurate to say that “musicians in the UK are being burdened with the bill for US immigration policy.” Take it from a guy who has prepared at least a dozen O-1 applications over the years. (and one or two H-1)
As a guy preparing O1 Visas, you should know that the musicians are paid from the same budget that covers ALL production costs. A rise in costs DIRECTLY affects the performance fees. Such a shame, as the musicians do the actual work of a tour.
As I wrote, the British musicians are not being directly burdened by the visa fee. They are offered a performance fee, by an American presenter, which they can accept or not. Of course the visa fee is part of ALL (your emphasis) production costs, in the same way that hall rental, stagehand fees, music rentals, instrument rentals, etc., etc. are part of ALL (your emphasis) production costs.
If the hall rental goes up, do British musicians bear that “burden?” If the piano tuner raises his price, are British musicians bearing that “burden?” Of course not.
It is inherently unfair that the citizens of the USA are being burdened with the bill for US immigration policy.
Not just UK musicians. The proposal–it’s not yet a done deal–is a disaster for the arts in the US and the communities that support them. More info here, in case anyone wants to submit a comment BY MARCH 13: https://www.musicalamerica.com/mablogs/?p=70936
The fair thing to do would be to apply same fees to American musicians touring abroad…we actually need a lot to finance cost of immigration…
“It is inherently unfair…”
The fair immigration policy would be this: musicians of color get a 75% reduction in visa fees.
Arts groups are free to decide where to place their money, in paying higher fees or in hiring minorities.
The current [March] issue of International Musician, the AFM’s newspaper, contains an open letter from the North American union’s government liason people urging cancellation of this preposterous action as detrimental to ALL.
And moreover, the League of American Orchestras, primarily oriented towards management and patrons, is also asking for signatories on a similar petition. League of American Orchestras
Stay in EU forget Bidenland, a cultural desert.
What ever dude. Both the Berlin Phil and Vienna Phil performances at Carnegie Hall were sold out and received rave reviews. The US is no more a cultural desert than it was from 2017-2021…
Would having an Irish (EU passport help at all? The Irish Times, 27 June 2022 reported a 1200% increase in applications for Irish citizenship from Brits in GB since 2016! We have loads of new Irish Brits refugees from Brexit UK they tell us.