Foreign artists and musicians wanting to perform in the US will be hit with a 42 percent increase in artist permit fees starting Dec. 23, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced. Nominally the fee will rise by $135 from $325 USD to $460 USD.
In an official press release the USCIS Director León Rodríguez commented that the organisation was mindful of the effects it would have on the customers and already withdrew from rising the fees several times, however he adds, “[..]as an agency dependent upon users’ fees to operate, these changes are now necessary to ensure we can continue to serve our customers effectively.”
Meanwhile a response by the Canadian Federation of Musicians, who probably deal with the USCIS on a day-to-day basis, called the peek in the performance permit fees “unacceptable”. Moreover, considering the “current lack of quality, they would press for “for vast improvements and consistency in processing times” (something to learn from the big guys, right?).
In any case, we speculate that unfortunately the repercussions of the 42% increase in artist permit fees will fall onto the shoulders of emerging talent, artists from non west Europe countries and collaborations, consisting of several members (live bands, more complex performance setups, etc.). Established artists, represented by agents or certain associations and lawyers, that can lobby on their behalf, are not to be as affected.