logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
    • Glossary
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Nonprofit Newswire | Visa Delays Hurt Performing Arts Groups

Bruce S Trachtenberg
August 11, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

{source}[[span style=”float: right; border-left: 1px solid gray; border-bottom: 1px solid gray; margin: 0pt 0pt 5px 5px; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 5px;width:250px;”]][[h3]]Related Articles[[/h3]][[br /]]{loadposition related}[[/span]]{/source}

August 9, 2010; Source: Los Angeles Times | A number of California performing arts groups are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore. What’s upsetting them are highly restrictive visa procedures that are preventing leading foreign artists from being allowed to perform in the United States. Some are also incurring costs associated with trying to speed up petitions that would allow guest artists into the country.

Among those hurt by problems with processing O and P visas issued to artists considered outstanding in their fields include cultural organizations that have had to forgo performances. For instance after immigration officials challenged whether klezmer and tango music met the requirement to be “culturally unique,” the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles had to cancel scheduled performances last year.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Similarly, visa challenges were raised for artists trying to enter the country to perform at a California festival honoring the Hindu goddess Durga, and by a Chicago opera company that wanted a Spanish singer and an African musical group to perform. The Los Angeles Times reports that the anger over these delays and denials has come to the attention of Alejandro Mayorkas, who heads the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He’s now promising that visa reviews will be speedier and that there will be more consistency in judging the visa petitions. “We’ve been very focused on listening, learning and responding,” Mayorkas said. “The O and P visas were established by Congress with the understanding that the introduction into this country of talent from all over the world brings needed and desired diversity to our artistic and cultural landscape. We should adjudicate the petitions with that intention and spirit in mind.”

This pledge can’t come soon enough for some organizations. Chad Smith, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s vice president of artistic planning, said his organization has had to pay an extra $1,000 per case for expedited visa processing. “The need for premium processing greatly impacted our bottom line,” he said. Looks like no more dancing around these concerns for the immigration service.—Bruce Trachtenberg

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

summer_sidebar_subscribe
You might also like
Thrown In the Deep End
Saphia Suarez
Young People Are Filing Lawsuits—Is This the Future of Climate Action?
Alison Stine
The Pedestrian Safety Crisis in America
Isaiah Thompson
Public Dollars for Public Good
Carmen Rojas
Tenant Organizers Are Fighting a Forever War
Gabriela Garcia
Capitalism, the Insecurity Machine: A Conversation with Astra Taylor
Astra Taylor and Rithika Ramamurthy

NPQ Webinars

September 21st, 2:00 PM ET

Remaking the Economy

Movement Economies

Register Now
Oct 5th and 6th, 2:00 PM ET

Mastering QuickBooks 2023

Advanced QuickBooks for Nonprofits for Online Users

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Summer 2023 issue

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Funders
  • Magazine Art

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.