Though I have filed employment visas before, I have never filed the special subcategory of visas for artists. From speaking with colleagues, one thing is for sure. One of the common problems has been the processing time, which sometimes is so long that the employer cancels the job offer because he/she simply cannot wait while the very much needed position sits unfilled.
This problem I am sure is exacerbated when you are trying to obtain a visa for a singer or actor, who are working on even tighter schedules. For example, if the singer is hired to do a concert on a certain date, with tons of advertising for months before in order to sell tickets at the venue,the concert promoter simply cannot change the date at the last minute because of visa problems, without encountering huge technical problems and financial losses. Or a film production that has obtained a permit to film on the streets of New York City for example, for a limited amount of days, cannot wait on one of its actors who is caught up in red tape.
This is why it's great news that the government has announced it is going to speed up the visa process for artists, in effect reducing it from approximately 120 days to 14 days only. I cannot believe this has not been done before as I know there is a premium processing available for other temporary employment visas, which has for years enabled the employee to obtain the visa in about 14 days or less, if otherwise eligible, by simply paying an extra filing fee. I am not sure if this new processing time for O and P visas required a similar added fee but I am certain a lot of people would gladly pay the extra fee if it means a speedier process. Read the entire New York Times article here.
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