[Dixielandjazz] Problems for travelling musicians

[Judy Eames]

Steve Barbone asked why a European band wasn't playing in  America.  I've 
copied parts of an article in "The Guardian" March 30th which might explain 
things.  (For the full article I'veadded the link)  The visa issue seems to 
have a  disproportionate effect on musicians and I know that several Uk jazz 
musicians have spent three hours or more waiting for their application to be 
processed, (some of the time outside the embassy in cold wet weather) You 
are told to arrive at a precise time... no earlier and no later and then 
made to stand around for hours.  I 've made good American friends here and 
in America and it seems sad that a way can't be found to improve efficiency 
and cut the bureaucracy.  It's especially galling that others such as sports 
people are not affected in the same way.

Here is part of the article:

The Manchester-based Hallé had been due to visit the US next year for two 
concerts, including one at the Lincoln centre in New York, the country's 
principal classical music venue. But managers said yesterday they had 
cancelled the tour when they realised that the cost of arranging the visas, 
estimated at £45,000, would render the trip uneconomic

John Summers, the Hallé's chief executive, said each orchestra member would 
have been required to go to London after phoning to arrange an interview at 
the US embassy. "We think this would have taken two days out of [our] 
schedule. The US visa service ... will not use consulates outside London. 
This palaver of getting visas is mind-blowing."

New visa procedures have been introduced to protect the US against 
terrorists. Most visitors with machine-readable passports can still use the 
visa waiver scheme, but performers intending to work in the US cannot do 
this. They have to arrange an appointment at the US embassy in Grosvenor 
Square, London, via a phone line charged at £1.30 a minute, and then appear 
for an interview and fingerprinting. The fee is $100.

"It's not a level playing field," said Russell Jones, director of the 
Association of British Orchestras. "Journalists and sports people do not 
have to go through these hoops." He said officials were following orders 
from the US department of homeland security, but it meant that "that 
wonderful cross-pollination of orchestras coming from and going to the US is 
going to decline if it's too much trouble".



http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1742626,00.html



Judy Eames
Kaminsky Connection
Aston, Oxfordshire
UK
www.judyeames.co.uk