An MP is urging the Home Office to take action to support international tours and overseas artists.
Labour MP Alex Sobel has delivered a letter to the Minister of State for Immigration, Caroline Nokes MP, calling on her to reverse recent Home Office changes to Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) arrangements for visiting entertainers from the USA, Canada and South America.
The letter has attracted signatures from 50 MPs and Peers, as well as from industry bodies including UK Music, the Association for Festival Organisers and the Music Venue Trust.
In August 2017, the United Kingdom and Visa and Immigration Service (UKVI) altered guidance to the effect that visiting entertainers from the US and Canada would now require UK visas if arriving via the Irish Republic.
UK music lobby groups and associations allege that these changes were not properly advertised and that no consultation was held with the relevant stakeholders. The new requirements impose significant costs on entertainers visiting the UK.
Sobe said: “The Home Office needs to apply some common sense to this issue and reinstate the old system for visiting entertainers. This is bureaucratic box-ticking of the worst sort.
“The danger is performers arriving from the US and Canada are likely to organise shorter European Tours – or not at all – due to the additional costs and bureaucracy.
“At a time when we’re told the UK ought to be more outward looking and business focussed the Home Office has chosen to impose a silly short-sighted policy on one of Britain’s most productive industries.”
UK Music deputy CEO and director of public affairs Tom Kiehl said: “The UK music industry is worth £4.4 billion to the economy and accounts for three of the four most popular arenas in the world, attracting global talent like Beyonce, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift and Eminem.
“UK Visa and Immigration are now jeopardising this success by issuing advice that contradicts long established practice in the entertainment sector. The Government must look again to ensure the UK can maintain its position as a world leading destination for international tours.”
