USCIS Increases Artist Permit Fee:  December 15, 2016 last day to Submit P-2 Visa Applications Under the Current Fee

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As reported in late spring, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed an increase to the O and P visa petition fees. The AFM, along with is long-standing coalition of (US-based) nonprofit arts organizations, aggressively lobbied against the implementation of any increase. Despite those concerted efforts, late last week USCIS announced a substantial (42%) increase on O and P visa applications, from $325 US to $460 US.

The AFM of course recognizes that this increase adds a significant burden to its Canadian members, musicians worldwide, and to petitioners of artist permits such as the AFM.

On November 2,USCIS is holding a teleconference of its recognized stakeholders in the US nonprofit arts sector. The position and arguments of the AFM and others will be to urge USCIS to respond to its current lack of quality in service and to press for vast improvements and consistency in processing times—especially now that USCIS has increased the fee.

To avoid paying the new fee at this time, please submit completed P-2 applications to the AFM’s Canadian Office (CFM) ensuring receipt by that office no later than Monday, December 19, 2016. Applications received on or after December 20, 2016 will need to have the new fee ($460) included.

Also, please be reminded that at this time we are recommending 120 day’s/four month’s processing time (unless filing premium processing). The above timeline is an estimate, subject to be increased or decreased by USCIS, with no requirement on USCIS to provide petitioners advance notice of changes to processing times. AFM’s P-2 Administrative Team monitors USCIS processing progress weekly, in an effort to provide as solid a timeline as possible.

While it may be hard to believe, especially considering the processing time and fees, but for Canadians the USCIS artist visa process is much more simplified and less costly than it is for all other musicians across the globe who enter the US under the same permits.

For additional information and questions on the AFM’s lobbying initiatives to improve access to the US, or the AFM’s role as a petitioner of artist permits, please email Executive Director AFM/CFM Liana White (lwhite@afm.org).

Congratulations to Local 802 (New York City) member Bob Dylan, 75, who was just awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Nobel Committee said it selected the singer-songwriter for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” “Since the late 1980s, Bob Dylan has toured persistently, an undertaking called the ‘Never-Endin Tour.’ Dylan has the status of an icon. His influence on contemporary music is profound, and he is the object of a steady stream of secondary literature,” the committee added Committee Secretary Sara Danius called Dylan “a great poet of the English-speaking tradition,” comparing him to ancient Greek poets Homer and Sappho. It is the first time in 23 years that an American has won the world’s most prestigious prize in literature. The prize, including 8 million Swedish kronor (about $900,000) is given based on the recipient’s lifetime of writing, rather than a single work. Dylan is the award’s 108th winner. Past Nobel laureates in literature include Toni Morrison, Rudyard Kipling, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Gabríel Gárcia Marquez.