US government intends to raise foreign artists visa fee by 50%

From October 2nd, 2020, the US Department of Homeland Security intends to increase the international visa fee by 50%, affecting touring artists. The introduction of this new change has been in the pipeline since November 2019 but will go into effect next month, among more changes that will affect international touring artists further. The visas that will be impacted include the P and O visas classes, frequently used by touring artists, or others who wish to work in the United States for an extended period of time. The P visa used to cost $460 for an application fee will now be increased to $695, while the O visa will go from $460 to $705 per application fee. According to the Department of Homeland Security, these changes are necessary to “recoup the costs of processing and naturalization services”.

Among other changes, the processing fee time will go from 15 consecutive days to 15 business days, and the number of applicants will be capped at 25 people, thus larger groups will have to pay for additional visas. Along with the visa costs, there is also a $1,440 Premium Processing Service that is mandatory for all applicants.

To read the official Federal Register to see all changes, click here.

Image Credit: Jeremy Dorrough on Unsplash