laws regarding work visas haven’t changed since 9/11, Janelle Hironimus, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, admits, “We check more thoroughly than we have in the past. All applicants must clear the department’s name-check system before they receive the visa.” That increased scrutiny is changing the game for labels, foreign artists, and most of all, fans. No one wants to spend a small fortune on a ticket only to discover that a performer has canceled due to unspecified visa issues.
There’s no single explanation for the “issues” that can derail a band’s entry. A rap sheet is an obvious red flag. Because of their collective prosecution history, rave-rockers Happy Mondays only received a single-entry visa to appear at California’s Coachella festival in April. (Maraca-wielding dancer Bez couldn’t come at all, because of a pending court case.) Failing to reapply in time, they were a no-show at the inaugural New York edition of the late Tony Wilson’s In the City festival in June, effectively ending their comeback bid in the U.S.
But even well-behaved bands are getting tied up in the labyrinthine application process. At the last minute, Klaxons had to cancel their first proper U.S. tour, in November 2006, because the trio couldn’t prove they’d been together for a full year—which is a requirement. “What I find so strange about all this is how you’re expected to go about proving these things,” says
guitarist Simon Taylor-Davis. “It’s like, ‘Do you want the flier from our first gig or something?’”
The difficulties in receiving a work visa—it can take up to six months and cost thousands of dollars in consultant fees—lead many musicians to try to pass as tourists. “Out of the hundreds of bands that perform at South by Southwest, more than half come here illegally,” says Ron Zeelens of RAZco Visas, who has worked for the Austin, Texas–based festival. Canadian singer Alexei Perry, one half of Handsome Furs alongside her husband, Dan Boeckner, tried to sneak in as a sightseer. She was busted in a routine border check in May, causing the Furs to cancel an East Coast tour the same week their debut album was released. (Boeckner managed to get in on a visa granted to his other band, Wolf Parade, an oversight on the part of immigration officials.)
In the current climate, however, even those with all of their paperwork sorted are getting stymied at the border. Rodrigo Sanchez of the shred-folk duo Rodrigo y Gabriela was denied a visa at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City in March because his name is the same as someone who is barred from America. The resulting mess took six weeks to sort out. “I just think it was indicative of a fault in the system,” says Chris Tetzeli, president of their label, ATO Records. “They were kept out because of our bureaucracy and paranoia.”
When bands cancel gigs, it’s more than just an inconvenience—it financially impacts musicians with meager budgets, festivals that are suddenly sans headliners, and record labels that have to restructure marketing campaigns. Rodrigo y Gabriela missed eight sold-out shows because of the administrative screwup; that’s approximately $65,000 in lost revenue.
It’s gotten to a point where visa issues are even affecting the art: M.I.A. says the direction of her new album, Kala, shifted because of delays
Even with all the attention this current rash of border snafus is getting, it’s unlikely that the situation will change in the near future. “We try to [process applications] quickly, but it doesn’t necessarily work that way, because there’s a higher workload these days,” says the State Department’s Hironimus. That’s leaving everyone in the industry feeling helpless and exasperated. “The process is a nightmare,” says David King of Traffic Control Group, a visa consultant. “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ view of it is that you should have filed
in renewing the agit-pop rapper’s work visa—despite the fact that she owns an apartment in Brooklyn. Instead of working primarily with hitmaker Timbaland, as planned, the London musician recorded her album with mostly unproven producers in locales from the Caribbean to India. In interviews, M.I.A. has denied that there’s any connection between her outspoken politics and her visa delays. In a recent interview with Spin, she said, “I’m as confused about it as you are…. They’ve let me in 20 times since I put Arular out.” Finally M.I.A. received a work visa in July, but only after Bono reached out to U.S. officials.
your paperwork earlier.” But in the world of rock’n’roll, sometimes that’s just not possible. “It’s a chicken-and-the-egg situation,” says Hugh Cornwell, who had to cancel a nine-date tour this summer because his paperwork didn’t clear in time. “What do you do first: book the dates or get your visa?”
There’s no obvious answer to that question. But hiring a good lawyer, reading the fine print, and keeping those fingers crossed is a pretty good strategy—one that Sub Pop A&R exec Stuart Meyer, burned from Handsome Furs’ botched border-crossing, is taking seriously. “Going forward,” he says, “we will have every t crossed and i dotted.”
Cat Stevens
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
Jimi Hendrix is arrested at Yoko rejoices as John
Toronto’s Pearson Airport Lennon receives his
after hashish and heroin green card after an epic
are discovered inside his four-year battle with
luggage. The sky kisser U.S. Immigration—all
is later acquitted, after because of a 1968 pot
testifying that the drugs possession charge in
were placed in his bags London. He celebrates
by a fan. his new citizenship by
immediately gaining
50 pounds and an
inexplicable appreciation
for Nascar.
1 980 Wings becomes a band on the run, after nearly eight ounces of marijuana are discovered in Paul McCartney’s baggage at a Tokyo airport. His punishment? Nine days in jail while “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” plays on a continuous loop.
1982 Set to play a gay disco in Edmonton, Alberta, Mötley Crüe have their leather outfits and custom spikes confiscated after authorities deem them “dangerous weapons.” Tommy Lee will later exact revenge by bedding Canada’s most famous export, Pamela Anderson.
2003 Chinese femme-punk act Hang on the Box have to halt a U.K. tour after China’s cultural ministry deems them “an inappropriate representation of [our] culture.” Lead-coated toys and poisoned toothpaste, on the other hand…
2004 2004 En route to Washington, Though she has no trip D.C., a plane carrying planned, the Egyptian Yusuf Islam (formerly government bans known as Cat Stevens) Madonna from entering is diverted to Bangor, the country. Her crime? Maine, after the folkie’s She visited Israel. It’s name pops up on a no-fly the anti-Semitic version list. The next day, Islam is of “talk to the hand.” deported back to England, CHANDLER LEVACK as the Department of Homeland Security accuses him of financially supporting terrorist groups.
FROM LEF T: PW/ASSOCIATED PRESS; ASSOCIATED PRESS; BRITAIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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