Lifeline for touring artists as US suspends visa price hike

Industry insiders have reacted with cautious optimism to news the US is delaying the implementation of proposed price hikes on touring visas until March 2024, and is considering lowering the rate increase altogether.

The proposed increase, announced by the USA’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in January, would have seen the price of processing touring visas for foreign artists rise by more than 250%, from $460 to $1,615 for a short-term P visa and from $460 to $1,665 for a longer-term O visa.

The DHS, which initially said the price hike was due to high demand and insufficient staff in its citizenship and immigration department, has now agreed to freeze the price increase, citing the negative effect it would have on artists touring in the US.

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“UK Music is pleased that damaging proposals to severely increase US visa petition fees have been paused,” said Tom Kiehl, the organisation’s Deputy Chief Executive.

“The US is a key market for UK acts and breaking America is as important now to artists’ careers as it was in the days of The Beatles. We will continue to work with music industry bodies from both the UK and overseas to ensure touring in the US is affordable for all performers and their crew.”

Dave Webster, Head of International at the Musicians’ Union (MU), said the announcement of the delay was “welcome news”.

“Whilst we do not yet know the full extent of the changes that may follow, it does look as though the original proposal will not go ahead in its proposed form,” he added.

“It’s testament to the power of collective advocacy from the arts sector not just in the UK but across the globe, and it’s encouraging that the US authorities are taking our concerns seriously.”

But the delay in implementing the price hike does not necessarily mean that it won’t come into effect as planned next year, cautioned Annabella Coldrick, CEO of the Music Manager’s Forum (MMF).

“There was an enormous campaign,” she said.

“I know the Australians raised it. I know the European Music Managers Alliance wrote to the European Commission and all their governments raised it. I know our government ministers eventually raised it directly with the US, which was really good because initially they said it has nothing to do with us.”

“We hope this signifies they’re listening. But we can’t say that [for sure] because it may well be that next March they say, ‘We’ve looked at the numbers and we still need to raise the money and this is the only way we can do it.’”

‘Completely unviable’

Surveys conducted by the MMF and MU in February found the proposed visa prices would have made touring in the US unfeasible for the majority of British acts.

“Over 70% of those who responded said if the visa costs go up it will make touring completely unviable, and for those who said they would still be able to make it happen, they said it would basically reduce their potential profits by about 40%,” Coldrick said.

A similar survey conducted by the MU found 80% of its members were planning to tour the US in the future. Of those, 96% said the proposed increase would impact the feasibility of touring the US and 76% said they would no longer be able to afford to go.

Coldrick said a backlog of US touring visa applications has built up since the pandemic, forcing many UK acts to pay for a costly premium track visa.

“To be honest, it’s so difficult for a British artist to tour even at the amount of money it currently is,” she said. “Just the costs of touring America with the current visa fees are astronomical – and not reciprocated. It doesn’t cost American artists to come here. They just come in on a Certificate of Sponsorship from the promoter.”

The visa costs covered in the US' price hike proposal were only for the visa petition fee. Artists performing in the US must also pay a filing fee, the Union approval fee and costly legal fees, according to the MU.

Another change proposed by the DHS would cap the amount of people on any petition to 25, meaning that large ensembles such as orchestras, including crews, could need to file multiple petitions at the vastly increased rate in the future.

UK price hike

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced earlier this month visa fees will be raised by 15% to meet the country’s public sector wage increase, making it harder for many international artists and performers to visit or work in the UK.

The MMF surveyed its members about whether or not they believed the UK should implement higher fees for US artists touring the UK if the US raises its own visa costs.

“The overwhelming response from our members was that we should all be bringing down barriers,” Coldrick said.

“We shouldn’t be trying to stop other musicians and other artists from touring here.

“We should be taking the moral high ground and trying to push down barriers everywhere, rather than ratcheting them up as a kind of arms race on culture.”