Visa racketeering by the US Government

The is a premium $1000 service for processing US visas, instead
of the "normal" $100.

Instead of taking months it only takes 14 days!

This is in the old tradition of Jessé James.

Earl

********


Tighter national security causes twists and turns for arts organizations


By William Loeffler
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, March 16, 2004

Pittsburgh Opera's recent production of "Julius Caesar" packed a few plot
twists that composer George Frideric Handel never could have envisioned.

First, Bulgarian soprano Alexandrina Pendatchanska had to drop out of the
role of Cleopatra because her work visa had an incorrect date.

Luckily, artistic director Christopher Hahn was able to locate Korean
soprano Sujung Kim to sing the part. Besides being one of five singers in
the world who knew the rarely sung opera, she also had something else
equally important: She recently had become an American citizen, which meant
she could travel to Pittsburgh in time for the production.

"In the middle of the night, I thought, 'Well this would be the first time
in my career that we would have to conceive of canceling,'" Hahn says.
"Which is not a good place to be in the middle of the night."


But the drama wasn't over. French counter tenor Christophe Dumaux, who
played Ptolemy in the production, had his visa delayed. On the day that his
flight to the United States was to leave, Dumaux still did not have his work
visa. He could not go in person to the American Consulate to pick it up,
because all visas are now sent through the mail.

"He was still standing outside his apartment in Paris, waiting for the mail
to come," Hahn says. "It arrived in the mail the same day."

For any arts organization that hires guest artists from abroad, the cost of
doing business often includes immigration lawyers, visa fees and the wrong
kind of drama.

"A lot of people don't realize how involved we are in immigration issues,"
says Steven Libman, managing director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. "We have
artists who represent Japan, China, Russia, New Zealand and Scotland."

The process of applying for work visas on behalf of foreign performing
artists has always been ponderous and problematic. But increased security
here and abroad as well as some government regulations passed even before
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have made the process more
complicated and expensive, arts executives and advocates say.

While everyone involved understands the need for tighter security, delays
and increased costs have made some arts organizations think twice before
hiring foreign artists. Some of the headaches:

Under current federal law, a visa application filed on behalf of a singer,
dance troupe or musician cannot be submitted to the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services more than six months in advance. But most presenting
arts organizations begin planning their seasons more than a year in advance.

Paul Organisak, executive director of the Pittsburgh Dance Council, has
presented the Shaolin Warriors from China, Ballet Biarritz from France,
Grupo Corpo from Brazil and Dumb Type from Japan -- arguably more
international artists than any other arts organization in Pittsburgh. Six
months is not enough time, particularly when half of that period is taken up
with waiting for the paperwork to come back, he says. The current turnaround
time for non-immigrant O and P visas -- the kind required for foreign
athletes and entertainers -- is 90 days. Delays have been as long as 120
days, critics say.

"I plan my season understanding that there are going to be visa issues, but
that's not going to stop me," he says. "That's not going to inhibit me from
moving forward. I'm anxious already for a company that's coming in October.
And it's March."

Arts organizations who want peace of mind can pay a $1,000 "premium
processing" fee, which guarantees that a visa application will be reviewed
within 15 days, instead of the current 90-day period.

But that is too expensive for many nonprofit organizations, says Heather
Watts, director of government affairs for The American Symphony Orchestra
League.

"Most of them can't afford to pay the additional thousand dollars on a
routine basis," she says. "They're left to rely on the regular processing
service."

The regular processing service costs $130. But that means waiting 90 days
for the application to be processed. If approved, it still has to be sent
overseas to the artist.

"Quite honestly, I would never file a case other than premium processing,"
says Mark Knapp, an immigration attorney for Reed Smith. "I wouldn't want to
wait three or four months on pins and needles."

But federal law already requires a maximum 14-day processing time for all
non-immigrant O and P visa applications. Thus, arts organizations are being
charged an extra $1,000 for nothing.

"You shouldn't just charge people more to get the job done properly," says
U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, an advocate for reform on the processing of O and P
visas. "If there's problem with staffing or rules, this needs to be
addressed."

Once the visa application is approved, the artist then must apply at the
American Consulate in his own country. Most applicants must present
themselves at the consulate to be interviewed. They might have to wait
several weeks to get an appointment.

Shelly Fuerte, assistant artistic administrator for Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra, says they ponied up the $1,000 premium processing free to speed
up a work visa for Birgit Remmert, a Swiss mezzo-soprano who sang in the
Mahler 2 concert in December. But Remmert still might not have made the
curtain were it not for the intervention of Hart. The American Consulate in
Berne was so backed up she could not get an appointment until a week after
her scheduled Pittsburgh performance.

"Even though we spent the thousand dollars and got the approval very fast,
they couldn't get an appointment for three weeks," Fuerte says.

Hart is part of a bipartisan effort to speed the processing of O and P
non-immigrant visa applications. In a letter dated Oct. 27, 2003, she and
others urged the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigrant Services, part of the
Department of Homeland Security, to adopt reforms that would speed up the
process and allow arts organizations to apply more than six months in
advance.

"I see this as an economic development issue," Hart says. "We attract a lot
of people to Pittsburgh for the arts. If it's being screwed up on the
national level, it's going to hurt us, too."

Chris Bentley, spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,
says the backlogs are caused by two security checks put in place following
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A security check is administered
when an application is submitted and again once it's approved.

"We have to slow to down, we have to take our time, we have to ensure the
security of the United States. By and large, the backlogs are a function of
the security check," Bentley says.

"Immigration law is one of the most complicated areas of the law," says
Knapp of Reed Smith. "When something fails or something happens, when an
event is canceled or someone doesn't get here, it's easy to blame the
government. Because, obviously, it's an easy scapegoat. I'm not defending
the government. But if you look a little closer, sometimes it was somebody
was not doing something right. They didn't take the advice."

The American Symphony Orchestra League and Opera America will hold their
annual conferences in Pittsburgh, during the first National Performing Arts
Convention, June 8 through 13. Each will conduct educational seminars to
help their members deal with immigration law.

"We are mindful of the need for security procedures," says Jack McAuliffe,
vice president and chief operating officer of The American Symphony
Orchestra League. "We're just saying that it does need some additional
reform."