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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/02/touring-artists-hit-by-visa-issues-and-it-will-get-worse-after-brexit
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| Touring artists hit by visa issues, and it will get worse after Brexit | Touring artists hit by visa issues, and it will get worse after Brexit |
| (4 months later) | |
| Your front-page story on the visa problems facing overseas musicians and their promoters touring the UK (‘Anti-foreign tide’ hitting music in UK, says Gabriel, 1 August) is important, but only part of a much more serious picture. | Your front-page story on the visa problems facing overseas musicians and their promoters touring the UK (‘Anti-foreign tide’ hitting music in UK, says Gabriel, 1 August) is important, but only part of a much more serious picture. |
| The situation has actually been worsening for years and the causes of it are perhaps more financial than just recent Home Office hostility. At fRoots magazine we’ve been central to writing about “world music” for nearly 40 years, but for at least a decade have noticed fewer of those artists touring in the UK. Since the financial crash of 2008, the collapse of physical record sales as a tour income supplement (both in terms of tour merchandising and label support) and the increases in international touring costs, the UK has become less and less attractive as a working destination. | The situation has actually been worsening for years and the causes of it are perhaps more financial than just recent Home Office hostility. At fRoots magazine we’ve been central to writing about “world music” for nearly 40 years, but for at least a decade have noticed fewer of those artists touring in the UK. Since the financial crash of 2008, the collapse of physical record sales as a tour income supplement (both in terms of tour merchandising and label support) and the increases in international touring costs, the UK has become less and less attractive as a working destination. |
| Fees paid to artists by festivals and venues in the UK, compared with those in mainland Europe or the US, have historically been poor. Cuts in arts funding haven’t helped, but the collapse in the value of the pound after the xenophobes (who certainly don’t care in the slightest whether they can experience Gambian kora players or Okinawan sanshin maestros) voted “leave” has been the final blow. Why would any self-respecting artist bother with the indignities of the UK visa system and international travel in order to lose money on playing here, especially as boosting incomes from CD sales is no longer likely and any increase in “exposure” can only result in more of the same? | Fees paid to artists by festivals and venues in the UK, compared with those in mainland Europe or the US, have historically been poor. Cuts in arts funding haven’t helped, but the collapse in the value of the pound after the xenophobes (who certainly don’t care in the slightest whether they can experience Gambian kora players or Okinawan sanshin maestros) voted “leave” has been the final blow. Why would any self-respecting artist bother with the indignities of the UK visa system and international travel in order to lose money on playing here, especially as boosting incomes from CD sales is no longer likely and any increase in “exposure” can only result in more of the same? |
| And it will get worse. Come the day when we crash out of the EU next March, visa and border bureaucracy will then also deter artists who play taranta from Puglia, rembetika from Greece, fado from Portugal and all the other wonderful roots musics our current European friends have to share. And our own UK folk musicians will find a market cut off, and careers possibly no longer sustainable. Everyone loses. | And it will get worse. Come the day when we crash out of the EU next March, visa and border bureaucracy will then also deter artists who play taranta from Puglia, rembetika from Greece, fado from Portugal and all the other wonderful roots musics our current European friends have to share. And our own UK folk musicians will find a market cut off, and careers possibly no longer sustainable. Everyone loses. |
| It could get harder to experience the vernacular music and cultures of neighbouring countries than at any time since German bands roamed the English countryside in Victorian days, and the Polka was an early “world music” craze. How very Rees-Mogg.Ian AndersonEditor, fRoots Magazine | It could get harder to experience the vernacular music and cultures of neighbouring countries than at any time since German bands roamed the English countryside in Victorian days, and the Polka was an early “world music” craze. How very Rees-Mogg.Ian AndersonEditor, fRoots Magazine |
| • UK visa issuance in the creative sector has been a mess since around 2012 when entry clearance officers (ECOs) in British consulates started second guessing sponsors, often incorrectly. | • UK visa issuance in the creative sector has been a mess since around 2012 when entry clearance officers (ECOs) in British consulates started second guessing sponsors, often incorrectly. |
| Sadly, with many visa decisions recently moved out of foreign consulates to Sheffield, the problem has recently deteriorated further, with clearly inexperienced staff incorrectly applying sponsorship guidance when issuing visas (especially in the creative sector). This has disproportionately penalised Indian and Pakistani artists’ visa applications in particular and may have caused the erroneous suggestion of racism (it’s not, it’s an issue of competence only I’m sure). | Sadly, with many visa decisions recently moved out of foreign consulates to Sheffield, the problem has recently deteriorated further, with clearly inexperienced staff incorrectly applying sponsorship guidance when issuing visas (especially in the creative sector). This has disproportionately penalised Indian and Pakistani artists’ visa applications in particular and may have caused the erroneous suggestion of racism (it’s not, it’s an issue of competence only I’m sure). |
| The problem is further exacerbated by remorseless year-on-year increases in visa prices (currently £225 each and £450 for a priority service) with unpredictable, apparently random, increases in processing times. | The problem is further exacerbated by remorseless year-on-year increases in visa prices (currently £225 each and £450 for a priority service) with unpredictable, apparently random, increases in processing times. |
| It is widely accepted in the creative industry that the current UKVI service is not uniformly fit for purpose and the increased fees do not represent value for money. | It is widely accepted in the creative industry that the current UKVI service is not uniformly fit for purpose and the increased fees do not represent value for money. |
| I get particularly incensed that, as a sponsor, I have no means whatsoever to contact ECOs when they incorrectly refuse or delay a visa application. These ECOs are faceless, nameless and completely unaccountable for their incompetence which can cost a tour promoter and their artists tens of thousands of pounds and massive reputational damage. | I get particularly incensed that, as a sponsor, I have no means whatsoever to contact ECOs when they incorrectly refuse or delay a visa application. These ECOs are faceless, nameless and completely unaccountable for their incompetence which can cost a tour promoter and their artists tens of thousands of pounds and massive reputational damage. |
| Other than an appeal against an incorrect decision there’s no compensation for these wrong decisions even when overturned. We’ve constructively complained repeatedly to the UKVI policy unit but have never even received an acknowledgement. | Other than an appeal against an incorrect decision there’s no compensation for these wrong decisions even when overturned. We’ve constructively complained repeatedly to the UKVI policy unit but have never even received an acknowledgement. |
| Our suggestions to UKVI policy include a presumption on the part of ECOs that the sponsor has correctly applied sponsorship guidance, and a means of communication between sponsors and ECOs if the latter believe a visa should be refused. That at least would start to move this currently dysfunctional area of government towards a more joined-up and proactive service. | Our suggestions to UKVI policy include a presumption on the part of ECOs that the sponsor has correctly applied sponsorship guidance, and a means of communication between sponsors and ECOs if the latter believe a visa should be refused. That at least would start to move this currently dysfunctional area of government towards a more joined-up and proactive service. |
| (Don’t even get me started on the common travel area and our porous border with the Republic of Ireland!)Benjamin RuthDirector, CME Artist Services | (Don’t even get me started on the common travel area and our porous border with the Republic of Ireland!)Benjamin RuthDirector, CME Artist Services |
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