It’s going to get more expensive for Canadian musicians to tour the US
If you’re a Canadian who wants to tour the US, you know about all the bureaucracy involved. It also costs money just to apply to tour south of the border. And it’s about to get worse.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is going to raise the fees for touring visas by–wait for it–more than 250%.
The so-called “P visa” allows acts into the US long enough to complete a tour. The current cost is US$460, but the DHS wants to bump that to US$1,615. If you want an “O visa,” which allows for longer stays, will go from US$460 to US$1,655. The new fees include a US$600 surcharge that will go to the government’s asylum program. The increases will apply to all foreign acts, including those from Canada. By the way, foreign acts are also taxed at 30% on what they make in the US.
Why the increase? DHS says that there’s high demand and insufficient staff in the Citizenship and Immigration department to cover things.
This is a fluid sort of situation. Keep up to date here.
Tamara Lindeman of Canada’s The Weather Station probably speaks for a lot of musicians.
