Tom HallThe visa process is ‘overly complex’, ‘humiliating’ and detrimental for artists wanting to perform in the UK, says a prestigious group of festival directors.
Published in the Guardian, the letter decries various festivals’ attempts to get visa approvals for authors and musicians – citing unexplained delays and multiple refusals particularly for applicants from MEA countries.
The letter’s content includes this excerpt: “The current visa application process for artists is lengthy, opaque and costly, with artists and/or festivals often spending thousands of pounds on visas and associated costs for a visit of often only a few days. The overly complex process leads to mistakes being made by both applicants and by assessors, and refusals being made for visas that could theoretically be granted. The situation has led to artists now telling festivals they are much more reluctant to accept invitations to come to the UK due to the visa process, despite the assistance we receive from bodies such as the British Council and UK embassies across the world.”
The letter was signed by:
Nick Barley, Artistic director, Edinburgh international book festival
Chris Smith Director, Womad festivals
Eckhard Thiemann, Artistic director and Daniel Gorman Executive director, Shubbak: A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture
Syima Aslam Director, Bradford literature festival
Monica Ferguson Chief executive and artistic director, IF: Milton Keynes international festival
Bill Gee Creative director, IF: Milton Keynes international festival
John E McGrath, Artistic director and chief executive, Manchester international festival
Emma Gladstone, Artistic director and chief executive, Dance Umbrella
Peter Florence Director, Hay festivals
Andrew Comben Chief executive, Brighton festival
Melanie Iredale Deputy director, Sheffield Doc/Fest
Donald Shaw Director, Celtic Connections
Ruth McCarthy, Artistic director, Outburst Queer Arts festival
Helen Medland, CEO and artistic director, Sick! festival
Richard Wakely, Artistic director and chief executive, Belfast international arts festival
Kris Nelson, Artistic director and joint CEO, Lift
Liz Holmes, Director, Knockengorroch World Ceilidh
Adrian Turpin, Artistic director, Wigtown book festival
Taher Qassim Chair, Liverpool Arab Arts festival
Miguel Oyarzun, Co-director, BE festival
Eleanor Livingstone, Director, StAnza festival
Donald Smith, Director, Scottish international storytelling festival
Alistair Moffat, Director, Borders book festival
Bob McDevitt, Director, Bloody Scotland festival
Tom Baker, Director, Field Day
The letter comes after some high profile criticisms of the visa process.
Peter Florence, director of Hay festival, has previously spoken out against the recent trend he sees in organisers having difficulties in getting Palestinian writers.
Elsewhere, 12 authors who were planning to attend this year’s Edinburgh international book festival had their visas refused, according to the director, Nick Barley.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We welcome artists and musicians coming to the UK from non-EEA countries to perform. In the year ending December 2017, 99% of non-settlement visa applications were processed within 15 days and the average processing time in 2017 was just under eight days. Guidance on visa and entry clearance requirements is publicly available on GOV.UK. Each case is assessed on its individual merits against the published immigration rules.”