The next time you watch a major awards show on television, you might see a proxy on the stage accepting an award on an artist’s behalf. The number of artists denied entry to the US in recent years has skyrocketed and appearances and performances around the US are regularly cancelled. Many artists are simply choosing not to come to the US .  

To perform in the US , all foreign artists must go through the nonimmigrant visa application process, whose costs and complications have become prohibitive according to booking agents, managers and presenters.  While visiting businesspeople also face similar security hurdles put in place since September 11, 2001, artists' visa petitions require substantial documentation to satisfy the "sustained international recognition" requirement for the P-1 visa issued to many performing artists.

Those in the arts business point to several factors leading to foreign artists bypassing the US including

·         high costs in applying for visas including government filing fees that can run in to the thousands of dollars

·         long delays in getting a visa issued

·         subjective and poor quality decisions in determining "extraordinary ability" by USCIS

·         the amount of work required to document an arts visa case

·         poor treatment by consular and border entry officials

·         a post 9/11 requirement that all applicants for work visas need to appear in person at a US consulate.

It is unclear how many foreign artists have canceled their appearances in the U.S. because of visa problems, but arts presenters and booking agents in the U.S. and abroad cited it as an urgent concern. There are 7,000 professionally staffed performing arts presenters in the country. In 2001, 75 percent of them were willing to bring in international artists.  However, in 2006, the figure dropped to near 60 percent.

Many arts organizations are now unwilling to book foreign performers because of the risk immigration problems. Arts advocates are lobbying Congress to pass a bill, called the ARTS Act (for "Arts Require Timely Service"), which would fast-track artists' visa petitions.