I believe the fees went up in April 2024 and it is a shame as most of the musicians I would like to see come from the UK and Ireland. I recall talking to a musician from Ireland maybe ten years ago and he said the reason he did fewer tours in the US but longer tours was because of the pain of getting all the paperwork in place and once here he was going to tour as long as allowed.
The Musician Tariff
Listening to Heather Bambrick on Jazz.fm this morning I learned that the time to process a visa application for performers has doubled and that to get an expedited visa now costs $2,800, limiting the ability of musicians to schedule tours in the US.
I have such a hard time even finding a jazz club, learning that now we can’t even get musicians just makes me even sadder.