Orchestras and other arts organizations of all budget sizes rely on the U.S. visa process to be affordable, reliable, and efficient, but unaffordable fees and inconsistent processing threaten the ability to access this essential benefit. Throughout the country, orchestras present international musicians in U.S. communities, providing audiences the opportunity to experience a diversity of musical talent. An affordable and reliable visa process also encourages a supportive climate for U.S. orchestras and artists to perform abroad.

Talking Points

• While gradual fee increases are a fact of life, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security continues to increase the fee for employers filing visa requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and last year implemented a fee system that increases what was a $460 fee for O and P visas to a range of $510 up to $1,655 per petition, depending on the petitioner's filing status. In response to widespread advocacy, USCIS created a tiered system that recognizes nonprofit and small business petitioners with a less dramatic fee increase compared to its original proposal. While the nonprofit arts community is gratified by the agency's recognition, the guest artist visa process is still prohibitively expensive for most, especially those paying at the highest end of the fee range. 
• The visa process needs to be far more reliable, efficient, and affordable for all petitioners. Already, the burden of regular filing has been heavy for O and P visas--the classifications for engaging guest artists. In addition to an increase in this fee, the process for O and P petitions is now incredibly confusing and USCIS has provided paltry guidance to help the public adjust to the many changes in policy. A new 25-beneficiary cap on group petitions has also exponentially increased filing fees and created new processing errors and delays.
• During COVID, Congress authorized USCIS to increase the fee for premium processing service by more than $1,000 to $2,500 per petition; on February 26, 2024 that price was increased further because of that Congressional authorization, to a new fee of $2,805 -- all without addressing persistent backlogs at USCIS. Moreover, new problems and confusion have yet to be dealt with after a switch in filing location to the Texas Service Center, with no explanation as to how petitioners could estimate filing times. Fee increases are put into place on the premise of providing improvements, but any progress has been temporary and meanwhile, the steady increase in overall costs only makes the visa petitioning process out of range for countless U.S. arts organizations and businesses.
• An effective visa system supports the power of music to communicate across differences, express and animate the issues of our time, and advance international diplomacy and our democracy. Inconsistency and unaffordability in the U.S. visa process for guest artists has harmful results for everyone. When artists are unable to come to the U.S. for guest engagements, the American public is denied the opportunity to experience international artistry, American artists who were scheduled to work alongside the guest artists may lose a valuable and much-needed source of income and artistic promotion, and the U.S. employer suffers the loss of considerable time, expense, and artistic planning.