Tamizdat’s staff of lawyers and law students identify problems with U.S. government policy and procedure, and create data-based recommendations for improving Government policy and procedure. Our work provides the clearest available picture of the impact of U.S policy on the arts, and is used by both the immigration law and performing arts communities to inform policy and advocacy.

White Paper on Artist Mobility to the U.S.

 Starting in 2015, Tamizdat annually publishes The White Paper on Artist Mobility to the U.S., a data-driven legal analysis of the issues the international performing arts community encounters with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and Department of State. The White Paper addresses more than 50 pervasive problems with the U.S. artist visa process, identifies the legal authority at the root of each problem, and recommends revisions to the relevant regulations and manuals. The White Paper provides a comprehensive roadmap for improving the U.S. artist visa process, and has guided productive dialogue with both USCIS and DOS. The White Paper has been endorsed by a wide range international GOs, NGOs, and organizations in the private sector. For a list of the endorsers, please click here.

Impact Litigation

Typically, when the government makes a bad decision in a performing artist’s visa cases, the event or tour is cancelled, and so the case is rarely appealed. As such, the government is rarely held accountable for its failures. In response, in 2019 Tamizdat launched a series of “impact litigation” lawsuits in U.S. Federal Court, aimed at increasing the USCIS’s accountability.

Government Monitoring

USCIS, Department of State, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association all have mechanisms designed to collect information about problems visa applicants encounter when navigating the U.S. visa system. Unfortunately, few lawyers and even fewer laypeople are aware of the facilities, so problems are rarely reported. Starting in 2019, Tamizdat systematically reports processing problems to the USCIS Ombudsman, the Department of State Visa Office, and AILA’s CIS and DOS liaisons.

Tax Policy Advocacy

Tamizdat works to ensure that U.S. tax policy and procedure does not unduly inhibit the presentation of international culture in the U.S.

In the summer of 2018, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service announced that starting October 1, 2018, eligibility for the Central Withholding Agreement program—an IRS program essential to the financial viability of hundreds of international artists’ U.S. tours every year—would no longer be available to artists grossing less than $10,000 in the U.S annually. This new rule effectively made the service inaccessible to the very artists who needed it most. In response, Tamizdat, in cooperation with the League of American Orchestras and CWA Management, drafted a “win-win” alternative rule designed to make the CWA more accessible, while simplifying the IRS’s process. With the assistance of the National Endowment for the Arts, the coalition submitted the proposal in October of 2018, and the IRS is scheduled to enact the proposal in the autumn of 2019.