Touring in another country ain’t low-cost, and it’d quickly grow to be much more costly for artists to deliver their music to america. The Division of Homeland Safety has proposed important worth will increase for the O-type and P-type visas granted to performers. Below the proposed change, the price of an O-type visa petition would improve from $460 to $1,655 — a rise of 260%. The charge for P-type petitions would rise from $460 to $1,615 — a 251% bump.
This potential change has brought about concern amongst many musicians in Canada. The nonprofit group People Music Ontario has posted a name to motion linking to the US federal register, the place involved events can register a touch upon the proposed rule change. Individuals wishing to pontificate on the coverage should remark on the hyperlink on or earlier than March 6.
Canadian musicians together with the Climate Station (pictured) and Tess Roby have additionally raised the alarm. “Holy shit,” Roby wrote on Twitter, sharing People Music Ontario’s publish. “They need to triple the price of US touring Visas for Canadian artists. PLEASE make your voice heard and share this extensively!” The Climate Station’s Tamara Lindeman amplified Roby’s tweet, including, “In case you are a US citizen or Group, please make an official touch upon this – directions beneath – For context we already spend hundreds of {dollars} simply on visas to enter the US; it’s the one nation we tour to with these prohibitive visa prices.” In a subsequent tweet, Lindeman continued, “It’s an enormous hardship to pay such excessive visa charges, along with a 30% withholding tax once we play within the US. It’s onerous sufficient to generate profits on tour as it’s.”
In an e mail to Stereogum alerting us to the state of affairs, Tom McGreevy of Geese Ltd. wrote, “It is a fairly massive deal for bands from different international locations, because it’s a major burden on newer bands particularly, however can also be one thing that will influence American audiences in a major method, because it’s going to discourage an terrible lot of bands from touring and taking the primary steps in constructing an viewers right here.”
