Musical America Blogs

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    After being unable to issue visas since June 9 due to a major computer system crash, the U.S. Department of State is now reporting that, as of June 25, 2015, 85% of the U.S. Consulates (approximately 165) are now operational and able to issue visas again. Here is a […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: Someone recently told me that there was a new form for U.S. visa petitions for artists. Is this true? If so, when do I have to start using it? Late last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a revised version of Form I-129—the form […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: Our organization has engaged a foreign musician whose European agent is balking at the artist having to obtain an O-1 visa that we know he needs. We want to do this right, so I’m getting my ducks in line to tell him no and part […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: We are a dance company who is going to perform in March in the United States. We gave the list of names for Visa purposes last September to the venue. Now we have some changes, we have to replace two technicians who are essential for the […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: I had a really interesting conversation with a consular officer at a U.S. consulate where we were having one of our groups apply for P visas. Our group has toured the U.S. many times and the officer mentioned that P class petitioners do not need to […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: My artist has an O-1 visa which expires in April 2015. We want to add a new engagement in May 2015. Can we just file for a “visa extension” or do we have to file a whole new petition? Your question contains the implication that […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.     We booked a tour for a folk/rock group that will be touring the US for the first time. It took a lot longer to get their visas approved because US Immigration kept asking for unreasonable things like background information on venues and festivals and even made us get […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: We filed visa petitions for O-1 and an O-2 visas. USCIS is asking for a contract between each of the O-2s and either the petitioner or the employers. This has never been an issue before and we’ve been doing this for 20 years. They are also […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: I recently received an RFE for a group touring the US this summer. The group is represented by a European manager who books their dates, but our US management company has previously filed petitions for them in the past, all of which have been approved […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: Does a conductor who has been approved for an O-1 visa need to bring the original approval notice to the consulate or will a color scan of the original work? We have been getting conflicting information, including a representative at the consulate telling us on […]