Just when you thought it was safe to go out on tour again…
The Covid pandemic devastated the music industry when artists were forced to cancel tours; shuttering venues, merchandise sales, and travel. Five years after the outbreak, the music scene was beginning to resemble “normality” with venues finally filling their calendars once again.
Up pops travel bans, visa issues, and more bans…
Last April the USCIS – US Citizen and Immigration Services – not only raised visa fees into the United States but nearly QUADRUPLED them!
When a band applies to enter the U.S. for a tour, they must pay for EACH member of the band. On April 1, 2024 those fees went from $460 per person to $1,615 per person!
The first increase since 2016, the USCIS stated the reason was to “recover our operating costs more fully and support timely processing of new applications.”
However, just the opposite it happening, immigration attorney Gabriel Castro noted, “we are seeing cases actually slow down.”
All applications are now sent to Texas and are arbitrarily sent to either California or Vermon for further processing. As a result, processing times have more than tripled!
While tours are planned months ahead; especially international tours, artists are not filing applications early enough to wait out an eight month delay; forcing them to abandon tours or pay an extra fee of $2,800 to expedite processing. Tour dates must be in place before artists can apply for their visas.
Executive director for the Artist Rights Alliance Jen Jacobsen spoke on the issue saying, “it’s just more expensive than ever to try and do a tour in the U.S. And that’s a problem. And I wouldn’t say the fee change by itself has had the impact — it’s a combination of inefficiencies and delays.”
K-Pop band KARD has cancelled their U.S. tour this year over visa issues. And while Iranian filmmakers Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani managed to arrive just in time to accept the Academy Award for their film “In the Shadow of the Cypress”; the Canadian metal band Respire and Swedish rapper Bladee have encountered visa issues that have cause cancellations and delays.
With rare exception, international musicians cannot perform in the U.S. unless they have a work visa; including Canadian musicians.
Jen Jacobsen noted, “there’s definitely a buzz about whether touring in the U.S. is still a good economic option” for these artists. Artists are increasingly taking a break from making tours of the United States; saying that it isn’t worth it with no return on their investment.
Big name artists who can ensure large audiences have a better chance to recoup expenses; but lesser known and up and coming artists are being severely affected; especially world music artists.
The current White House administration has issued a list of potential countries where at least partial travel bans will be implemented. If the bans take place, it will further curtail musicians ability to perform in the United States. And recent changes in White House policy also affects artists in the LGBT+ community; especially transgendered individuals…further restricting performers.