INTERESTING BITS: Touring the U.S. Just Got More Expensive for Foreign Bands

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced a series of fee increases for immigration applications and petitions. One of those increases applies to petitions for non-immigrant workers, which are required for musicians, artists, actors, athletes, and others who travel to the United States to work. On December 23, the fee for Form I-129, the Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, will go from $325 USD per act to $460 USD per act, a 42% increase. An artist’s crew (tour managers, roadies, etc) must also pay a separate fee of the same amount.

The Canadian Federation of Musicians (CFM) has responded to the increase, as Billboard reports: “A fee surge of this kind adds an additional and unacceptable financial burden on our members,” said executive director Liana White.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story indicated that the increase from $325 USD to $460 USD was per person. In fact, it is per act as a whole, no matter how many people that comprises. A separate fee, which will increase the same amount, also applies to the crew, again regardless of the number of people.