The new visa fees for foreign artists are out. This is not good(ajournalofmusicalthings.com) |
The new visa fees for foreign artists are out. This is not good(ajournalofmusicalthings.com) |
FWIW, a lot of countries, including Canada / Australia etc allow artists who perform under a normal tourist visa which is essentially easy and free for much of the Western world. It always amazes me that I can perform in Canada by just flying over but I need to spend $1000+, hand in my passport for a week, go for an interview and wait several months just to do one show in the US.
Having traveled worldwide, it easily ranks up there with the most unfriendly customs officers.
Maybe that's why Canadians are so nice? All their assholes are employed for border security?
I'm not sure what exactly is happening in this case, but by saying "Because the US can’t seem to get a handle on its borders" the article author seems to be claiming that artist visa fees are subsidizing asylum claim applications.
That's part of the reason nearly every country spends taxes to support the arts/music/theatre/film.
By restricting foreign actors, you are restricting foreign countries culture spreading, and giving your own actors/filmmakers/musicians a boost. That in turn will translate into more worldwide cultural influence for your country.
To be honest, I'm really surprised all countries don't ban artists from non allied countries.
Edit: also not clear how restricting foreign actors in your country would boost your cultures influence in another country.
I would even argue that giving foreign artists the opportunity to be influenced by your culture, in turn will strengthen your cultures influence outside of it.
But it is not really a cynical statement about art. It's a cynical statement about government policy towards the arts.
In the UK, Brexit has done a great deal of slow-motion damage to the prospects of British artists (and the opportunities for British audiences) and it is difficult not to see the government's intransigence towards work travel restrictions for artists as an arts policy rather than just an immigration policy.
Those who have visited Ukraine will know quite how many free art galleries, sculptures, children's playgrounds etc all had EU, Russia and even USA flags on a little plaque saying "Proudly sponsored by...". The cultural war predated the traditional war by 20+ years. You can see the same cultural war in the '-stan' countries, Georgia , etc today. I
It’s a shame because the cross-cultural connection is very special. Every artist I brought over was floored - sometimes brought to tears - that people from across the Pacific loved their art.
It really makes me wonder if that show would have happened at all.
Why there is so much barrier, I do not understand. And yes, the cost will absolutely be born by customers, at least at these small shows.
How high the barrier should be is debatable, but $1615 seems too high. That’s a ton of money for a large ensemble.
Most egregious to me is the several month waiting time. When we allow anyone and everyone to enter via the southern border, fly them wherever they want to go within the country for free, and provide resources at their destination, that same administration is going to have some elaborate screening process for touring guitar players? What a sick joke.
Same as the Brexit changes relating to this.
Pretty much all touring artists will use a P3 visa, or get a waiver.
A P3 visa is going to cost the sponsor $460. The person filling out the application will have to pay $190 (and then another $80 for biometrics if it's their first time)
This will hit smaller and medium size acts. It is really sad.
The republicans and democrats can’t agree on a policy. They use it as flame bait since it is a very emotional topic, especially illegal migrants and H1b abuse. So we are in this situation of a poorly funded agency without consistent guidance for immigration in the 21st century.
I explained that my father was at a conference, and that I was there to both help and be a tourist.
Did not parse with Mr. Papers Please. "Which one is it?" in increasingly aggressive tones.
Finally I just picked one, he gave me my stamp, and I went through.
1- He is a member of the https://centuryinitiative.ca , a group that want to see Canada having a population of 100 millions in 2100. And the only way it's possible is by having unsustainable immigration.
2- https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2024/statc... the latest drop in the previous graph is a consequence of that artificial population growth.
3- https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/temporary-visas-cut-meeting... as if this would help with the housing crisis or the shrinking GDP per capita
Shouldn’t have to be. If you raise TFR to 5 it should be completely feasible.
It's fair to gripe about the effects of immigration, and policies to handle those, but it's disingenuous to gripe about immigration as a policy in a <2+ country.
Demographics is a zero sum game. Either you have a growing population and smooth age brackets or Very Bad Things happen.
[0] https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/CAN/can...
You seem to be under the impression that hordes of Americans are gathered at the 49th parallel slavering to rush into Canada, and that only Canadian border patrol is preventing Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver from being overrun by Americans. Quite the opposite.