The Score | Facilitating U.S. Artist Visas and International Travel

Beginning in March 2020, international travel for many musicians and other artists came to a standstill, with so few live performances taking place due to the pandemic. Throughout this time, the League has been responding to the challenges that have sprung up in a variety of ways, not just on behalf of orchestras but of all U.S. arts organizations. These efforts include advancing COVID-specific policy requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of State, meeting with agency staff to convey the unique and particular needs of the arts, and advising stakeholders how to navigate the current climate for obtaining travel waivers for the many artists flying from or through dozens of travel-restricted countries. With the 2021 return to live performances and announced plans by the Biden Administration to reduce COVID-19 travel restrictions, the U.S. artist visa process will be ramping up, along with all manner of other sectors petitioning for other types of visas. In response to the need for more specific, up-to-the-minute guidance on visas and international travel, the League recently co-presented a free webiner; ongoing news and assistance is publicly available at https://www.artistsfromabroad.org/, which has a dedicated news page on COVID-related visa news and international travel.