U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced early this year that it would increase the fees for P and O visas — the ones touring artists use to travel the U.S.
“Before these fees, we’ve seen bands that are struggling to afford costs of the immigration burden,” says Gabriel Castro, a senior associate at the global corporate immigration law firm Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. “[The fees] have failed to increase for several years now. They are due for an increase. However, the increase they are suggesting is quite substantial, all across the board.”
The price of the O visa is increasing from $460 to $1,055, and the P will rise from $460 to $1015. Plus, the USCIS is tacking on an additional $600 asylum fee in an attempt to fund the separate asylum programs through business immigration. All together, the cost is rising by more than three times the original amount.
On paper and out of context, the proposal might make sense. During the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration decreased, the USCIS received less money from fees and staff was laid off. Today, immigration has rebounded, and cases are backed up. The agency needs money, so it will raise fees from temporary, foreign workers to get it. (Notably, USCIS is planning to raise fees for all employment-based categories, not just for international artists.)
But in the real world, and contextualized by the spiderweb of interests connected to international touring, the plan is worrisome to those who make a living through international tours. The changes will hurt smaller acts the most. Harry Styles will be able to cover these added costs with his ample (neverending?) stadium tours, but, unsurprisingly, indie artists playing smaller venues and bars will not.
Castro also emphasizes the difficulty of these costs coming at the front end. “They may not have the fees to be able to pay this up front, even if they are projected to earn that income while performing in the United States,” he says.
And less touring has broader implications.
“It's not just the people in the industry itself,” Castro says. “The fans, the venues, the concession sales, the restaurants across the street from the venue, the parking lot across the street from the people, the bars. When you bring in 1,000 people to see one artist, it's a boon for the hyper-local economy. Even missing one night for your local restaurant could really hurt their back end.”
Though the decision has been delayed, professionals in DFW who work with international artists are still bracing for its anticipated implementation in March 2024 — on top of battling with the system's already present woes in their day-to-day business.
Double Booking Co. is a booking agency for local venues and corporate clients in Dallas. It works with smaller touring bands from around the world, so these proposed fee increases will directly affect the company's business.
The agency’s founder, Harley Jennette prioritizes getting international acts playing SXSW in Austin up to Dallas for his New New Festival.
“A lot of artists are not making money on their tours until you start selling a lot more tickets,” he says.
With flights, visa fees, housing, equipment and other expenses, he sees most early stage artists are losing money, just breaking even or making just enough to pay everyone involved.
“The only artists that can afford it will be artists that are selling like 500 or more tickets,” he says. “It basically would take out most artists under that level to tour in the U.S. at all unless they had somebody fronting them cash like their label or an investor or something.”
Small indie acts aren’t the only people concerned about these changes. TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND is a freestanding presenter that brings international touring companies such as Japan’s Sankai Juku or New York City’s Parsons Dance Company to perform in Dallas. And the issues facing standalone acts trying to perform in the U.S. are only multiplied for entire dance companies.
“It's not just the people in the industry itself. ... When you bring in 1,000 people to see one artist, it's a boon for the hyper-local economy." – Gabriel Castro
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The presenter has already seen hardships in attracting internationally touring acts to Texas.
“Hervé Koubi had to cancel their last American tour because they physically couldn’t get the appointments at the consulate,” says Charles Santos, executive director of TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND. “They couldn’t get the visas processed in time on the American side because the inefficiencies were already present. They paid the expedited fees, they did everything. They just couldn't get the appointments. Canceling a tour is complicated because there are expenses that presenters like TITAS have already paid. We’ve built a brochure … All of the income that has come in from season ticket holders or single ticket buyers has to be refunded or put on account.”
Santos doesn’t think having the fees increased will fix the inefficiencies in the system, and he worries about the future of this industry if the fees go into effect.
“For us, it may become cost-prohibitive to bring these companies from outside of America, even Canada or Mexico,” he says.
Whether the rise in costs will have broader implications for the U.S. is also of concern to Santos.
“History has proven that these other countries will reciprocate with the same kind of restrictions on Americans coming to tour their work internationally,” he says. “I'm afraid all of these individual countries in Europe and in Asia and in South America and in Africa will also institute these kind of restrictions to make it as expensive and arduous for our artists to work internationally.”
Ultimately, for Santos, the stakes are clear.
“This is about cultural sharing and being a part of the cultural landscape,” he says. “We don't want to insulate ourselves from the global community.”
