First of all, congratulations on the recording contract. Those are NOT easy to come by these days.<\/p>\n
The visa waiver program allows citizens of certain countries (with Australia being among them) to enter the U.S. for up to 90 days as a \u201cvisitor\u201d without first having to obtain an actual B1\/B2 (visitor) visa from a U.S. Consulate. Citizens of visa waiver countries only need to have a valid passport to enter the U.S. as a visitor. When an individual enters on the visa waiver program, he or she is subject to all of the same rules and restrictions as if they had an actual visitor visa.<\/p>\n
A \u201cvisitor\u201d to the U.S. is allowed to do all of the normal visitor activities (sightseeing, shopping, visiting friends, etc.) as well as have business meetings. Visitors cannot work or look for work. Artists who enter as visitors are allowed to attend competitions and auditions (which, as we all know, is a heck of an amount of hard work!), as well as have meetings with producers, agents, and other arts professionals. However, with limited exceptions, they are not permitted to perform in front of an audience–even if they perform for free and\/or no tickets are sold! An artist must have an appropriate artist visa (either an O or a P) in order to perform. When it comes to recordings, there\u2019s a limited exception: A recording artist is permitted to come to the U.S. as a visitor to use recording facilities in the U.S., for recording purposes only, provided the recording will be distributed and sold only outside the U.S., and no public performances will be given. Otherwise, when recording artists enter the U.S. to record albums, they are required to obtain an appropriate artist visa.<\/p>\n
In your situation, it is perfectly fine for you son to enter the U.S. on the visa waiver program to meet with his agents, producers, and representatives of his label. He can even have interviews and auditions. However, he cannot record music in his producer\u2019s studio for purposes of a publicly released and distributed album<\/span> unless it\u2019s for an album that will be sold and released outside of the U.S.<\/p>\n You\u2019re fortunate in that Musical America just released a fantastic downloadable report on the complex issue of obtaining U.S. visas for artists, full of helpful tips and explanations. You\u2019ll also want to check out artistsfromabroad.org<\/a> which has become the definitive resource tool on the issue and which contains an exhaustive array of information and materials.<\/p>\n _______________________________________________________________<\/p>\n For additional information and resources on this and other![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/GG-logo_for-twitter-150x150.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/a> legal and business issues for the performing arts, visit ggartslaw.com<\/a><\/p>\n