DHS probes dancers for visas
leading movement workshops at Dublin’s Centre for the Care for Survivors of Torture, a humanitarian group that helps individuals rehabilitate and integrate into a new life as citizens of Ireland. The work had its premiere in 2004 at Dublin’s Project Arts Centre and was revived for the 2009 Dublin Dance Festival. The choreography incorporates two professional dancers and eleven survivors.
Reiterating all this, Yoo gathered letters of support, including from Representative Jerrold Nadler and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and successfully addressed the USCIS concerns.
In the case of Willson, he sought an O-1 visa (for “Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement”) to tour in support of his new album. The RFE, however, questioned his ability: If he was so talented, why was he being paid so little?
“If you come over as solo performer, and you are judged against Academy Award-winning directors or athletes, you don’t look so extraordinary,” he said. “Anyone who is trying to survive as a musician knows that often the pay is not measured in monetary terms.”
His application was handled by Matthew Covey, managing director of Tamizdat, a New York-based organization that files hundreds of artist petitions a year — and filed at least 200 for South By Southwest. “We’ve got to get that 95 percent approved,” said Covey, noting that the other 5 percent are usually returned with RFEs.
Just prior to the 2011 music festival, however, he estimates that 5 percent jumped to 50 percent. “There were 10 RFEs coming in one day, another 10 the next day,” he said.
The questions ran the gamut, but typically addressed the artist’s worth or questioned the event. “From talking to other practitioners, that was happening across the board,” he said.
But the senior counselor to the USCIS director, Dan Hantman, says there has been no policy change that might have caused the uptick, adding that USCIS understands the industry’s concerns. In July 2010, the director hosted an engagement meeting with arts leaders. And USCIS last year began re-evaluating the standards that would cause RFEs in all visa classifications. Public comment on “P” visas took place from 25 February to 11 March. “O” visas are up next.
“It’s an attempt to give a sense of standard expectations,” said Hantman. “We need from petitioners clear, detailed filings.”
As the organization’s president and CEO, Robert L. Lynch, says: “It’s a business issue.”
