The Stage

Home Office announces end to visas for foreign artists

Published Wednesday 7 May 2008 at 17:40 by Lalayn Baluch

Foreign actors and musicians will not need to obtain a visa when coming to the UK for less than three months, the Home Office has announced.

Instead, temporary visitors, including performers, will only need a certificate of sponsorship from a UK-based employer when new visa rules are enforced this autumn.

The news has been welcomed by the National Campaign for the Arts, which believes that the new system will save employers “considerable cost and administrative hassle”.

The organisation had feared that an earlier proposal by the Home Office, which required all artists from outside the European Economic Area to obtain a visa, would have deterred artists from coming to the UK and prevented venues and promoters from hosting them.

NCA director Louise de Winter commented: “This represents a victory for all those who have campaigned with the NCA to ensure that the UK immigration system does not penalise or deter visiting artists and we commend the Home Office for addressing the cost issue.

“The NCA remains very concerned, however, by some elements of the points-based system as it applies to artists. We will continue to campaign for improvements to this.”

Details of how the new points-based system for temporary workers will run have been published by the Home Office. Along with the visa exemption for foreign staff in the UK for up to three months, the document has also outlined that employers will have to adhere to a Code of Best Practice created by industry bodies including the NCA, Equity, Society of London Theatres and the Theatrical Management Association.

This week, The Stage revealed that Home Office ministers rejected calls by the industry to allow Equity to receive email notification from Whitehall when a sponsorship certificate is sanctioned.

Immigration minister Liam Byrne said that the Home Office might be able to supply “restricted view access to the system or periodic reports” to allow the union to monitor workers who are coming into the country.

However, Equity is concerned that without instant notification, it will not be able to ensure that employers are obeying the Codes of Best Practice, and fears that jobs for the resident labour market might be at risk.