Edinburgh fringe director Morgan ‘cautiously optimistic’ over new visa system

Published Tuesday 13 May 2008 at 16:50 by Lalayn Baluch

Edinburgh Festival Fringe director Jon Morgan has given a cautious welcome to details published on the new visa system, which will make it easier for festivals to host foreign musicians and actors.

Under recently revised proposals, overseas performers coming to the UK on a temporary basis from countries outside the EU, such as Russia, will be able to enter on a visitor visa, rather than a more expensive work permit and will not require a sponsorship certificate from an employer. Those from non-visa nations, such as America or Australia, will need neither a visa or a certificate.

According to Morgan, this will relieve festivals from the potentially crippling administrative burdens which had been feared, after Whitehall initially proposed that all artists from outside the European Economic Area would require a work permit and sponsorship.

He explained more than 3,000 overseas artists travel to perform at the fringe annually and estimated that if the original plan had been given the green light, it would have cost the organisation £150,000 each year to issue sponsorship certificates for each performer.

There were also concerns the added bill would deter performers, particularly high school students who perform at the Edinburgh event, from coming to the UK.

Morgan told The Stage: “We have been arguing for a long time that the fringe in particular, but festivals in general, should be treated differently because we don’t pay artists to come here.

“I am cautiously optimistic and pleased with the way things are moving, but I will need to know more about the visitor category before I can say categorically it is all sorted. I am optimistic this is a move in the right direction.”

Morgan said he is now waiting to see what paperwork will be involved with visitor visas and whether workers will be able to obtain guaranteed right of entry.

The provision is only available for permit-free festivals - defined as those which are not commercial ventures and do not exert a detrimental effect on the UK labour market - such as Edinburgh, Brighton and Glyndebourne.

Morgan added other festivals and venues still face the same concerns and will have to deal with the expenses and administrative burdens of sponsoring performers as temporary workers.