P2 Fees May Go Up

This week we got the bad news that the US Customs and Immigration Service has proposed a fee increase to the I-129 petition related to P and O permits. If the proposed increase is adopted, the fee to the Department of Homeland Security will go up to $460 (currently it is $325). Premium processing fees would remain the same. Any changes will not go through until mid-July at the earliest.

If you are planning to apply for a P or O permit this year, the Canadian Federation of Musicians office recommends you get your application in by no later than July 5th if at all possible.

There will be a period of public commenting before any changes are made, and Local 1000 will be vigorously opposing this change, as will the AFM and many other performing arts groups in the US. We will be encouraging all our US members to submit individual comments about the legislation when we have more information. Please stay tuned, and hopefully we can stop this fee increase from going through.

Detailed information is available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/05/04/2016-10297/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule