Update regarding US visa fee increases and travel restrictions
USCIS fee increases and other changes
Effective October 2, USCIS is raising the filing fees for most visa petitions and applications. The fee for O petitions, which is currently $460, will increase to $705. The fee for P petitions, which is currently $460, will increase to $695. There will also be new additional costs for groups larger than 25. At the same time, the processing time for USCIS’s optional Premium Processing expediting service (which costs an additional $1440 per petition) is increasing from 15 calendar days to 15 business days. Lastly, while the fees for green card applications have only changed by $10, naturalization fees have increased more than 80 percent from $725 to $1170.
These fee increases create substantial new burdens for the performing arts, which are already in a state of collapse. However, we encourage the international cultural community to remember that this fee increase is a small part of a much bigger problem: since the early ’90s, when the O and P visa classifications were created, the average effective cost of securing a visa for a foreign artist has increased more than 2000 percent. Only a fraction of this escalation reflects increases in the government fees. The bigger problem is that the U.S. government’s application of the O and P regulations has become so arbitrary and onerous, that most arts institutions have been forced to hire attorneys to manage the process for them. As such, presenting performing artists in the U.S. now comes with massive legal costs, which are—in our opinion—a catastrophic financial impediment to cultural exchange. The U.S. government needs to rein in the bureaucratic creep of their procedures, which would make the visa process cheaper for them, and fairer, faster, and more affordable for artists and arts institutions.
Consular processing and travel restrictions
Routine visa services remain suspended at many U.S. embassies and consulates, but some have resumed visa interviews. You should be able to find up-to-date information on the website of your local U.S. embassy or consulate. However, the COVID-19 travel restrictions imposed on a number of countries by the Trump administration remain in place (see the second question on our FAQ page for the complete list). As a result, not only is travel from those countries restricted, but also U.S. consular posts in those countries are generally not issuing visas to individuals who do not qualify for an exception to the restrictions.
But there may be a little good news: recent anecdotal reports suggest that U.S. embassies and consulates are starting to be more lenient in offering waivers of the travel restrictions. Increasingly, it’s appearing that if you have an urgent need to travel to the U.S. for work, you might be able to travel—finally. Each consular post has different procedures for processing such a request; reach out to us if you think you might qualify.