Artists say 260 per cent US visa cost increase will make touring impossible – but you can help

nme.com:

NME about the “crippling” damage that will be done to international touring if a 260 per cent price hike for US visas is allowed to go through – and encouraged music fans to have their say and help stop it.Earlier this month, it was revealed that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was planning to raise touring visa fees for foreign acts by more than 250 per cent – laying out that the cost of acts arriving in the US to perform temporarily, would increase from the current rate of $460 (£375.23) to $1,615 (£1,317), with a longer term work visa jumping from $460 (£375.23) to $1,655 (£1,349).The news was met with widespread uproar from the international music scene – with the new measures proving preventative for both new and established artists – and now more have come forward to call for action.

This could also lead to an increase in the cost of gigs and tickets for international acts playing in the US.Music fans and industry workers have until March 6 to oppose the move on the Federal Register website here, with those in the industry also invited to fill in this survey from the Featured Artists Coalition.This month also saw Leicester band Easy Life scrap their upcoming US tour due to “some insane costs“.

Speaking to NME, frontman Murray Matravers explained how “bleak” a picture there already was without the “crippling” massive visa price hike.“We just couldn’t afford it – it’s literally as simple as that,” said Matravers. “We’ve done a proper tour of the US once before with a little pretend tour before that, all pre-COVID.

It’s all changed so much. The cost of visas is crazy, you have to hire a legal representative to do all the forms and their fees have gone right up.“In the UK now, we do reasonably-sized shows.