Performing Arts Visa Working Group (PAVWG) Finalizes Its Public Comments to Oppose U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Proposed Rule to Increase Visa Fees; OPERA America Members Are Urged to File Public Comments

The Performing Arts Visa Working Group (PAVWG) finalized its public comments to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in opposition to its recent proposed rule to increase O and P visa petition fees and enact other policy changes that would adversely impact arts-related organizations' ability to bring international artists to the U.S. OPERA America is an active member of the PAVWG, consisting of various national companies and nonprofit organizations across the arts and cultural sector, and is a signatory on the comments. The PAVWG is encouraging additional national, regional, and state arts agency-related companies and non-profit organizations to sign onto the public comments, as well. Interested national, regional, and state arts agency-related companies and nonprofit organizations can sign on by using this Google Form by March 9.

As a reminder, the proposed rule would do the following:

• Filing fees for regularly processed O visa petitions would increase by 260% from $460 to $1,655 per petition (this would include a $600 surcharge to fund the Asylum Program Fee) — see chart below.
• Filing fees for regularly processed P visa petitions would increase by 251% from $460 to $1,615 per petition (this would include a $600 surcharge to fund the Asylum Program Fee) — see chart below.
• The total number of individuals on a single petition, including O and P arts petitions, would be capped at 25 beneficiaries. This would require numerous petitions for larger ensembles.
• The Premium Processing Service (already unaffordable for many companies and organizations at the current cost of $2,500) would take longer, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) redefining the timeframe from 15 calendar days to 15 business days (federal working days) in order to complete processing.

What Can the Opera Community Do?

OPERA America encourages members and interested colleagues who would be adversely impacted by the proposed rule to submit their public comments to the Federal Register. The deadline for the submittal of public comments has been extended to March 13. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is soliciting feedback from interested stakeholders concerning the potential artistic and financial impact of the proposed fee increases. The PAVWG also developed a policy background document to quickly bring interested stakeholders up-to-date concerning this issue and a grassroots advocacy document to provide guidance concerning public comments.

Specific Action Steps

1.     Review OPERA America’s current Action Alert, which contains the proposed rule, background information, and guidance on how to submit public comments

2.     Develop and submit public comments through the Federal Register Portal — the deadline is March 13.

a.     The agency wants to hear how the increased fees will affect arts-related companies and nonprofit organizations.

3.     Copy and paste brief summary of public comments to the body of the OPERA America Action Alert with appropriate contact information so that comments can be directly sent to your U.S. Representatives and Senators for their review and action before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Please note that there is a word count for the body of the action alert so please just copy and paste a brief summary of your public comments to be sent to Capitol Hill.

ACTION ALERT