Hi, my name is Roella Oloro and I’m a 27 y/o British multi-instrumentalist, performer and composer currently living and working in NYC in the United States. I am also immensely proud and grateful to be able to say that because of the support of my musical family and global communities thus far; I’ve been able to attain a Bachelors and Masters degree via 2 full tuition scholarship from the best music school in the world; Berklee College of Music based in Boston, MA, USA. Without the help and belief of my community who rallied around me; donating to my Berklee GoFundme campaigns; I would never have been able to even take up my place at Berklee. In my very first Berklee fundraising campaign, we raised £27K in 4 months for me to actually start studying on the undergrad programme at Berklee. Therefore in my eyes, this educational success and any career success I’ve accrued since belongs to my community just as much as it belongs to me.

In order to be able to work off-campus in the States once graduating from my Masters Degree; I applied for an employment authorisation programme called OPT (Optional Practical Training). OPT is only valid for a year however and mine will expire near the end of August. In order to continue living and working in the States and to make my career dream of collaborating bi-continentally a reality, my goal is to apply for the O1B artist visa. So as to make a smooth transition onto the artist visa in August, without having to leave the United States. I will have to pay an expedited fee for the application which will bring the overall costs up to around $4000. A lot of international students in my position, would also be having to factor in the costs for the help of an immigration lawyer with their application. This would be anywhere between an additional $3000 to $7000. I am deciding to put together what will be a near 500 -page application independently so as to save on the astronomical additional cost of an immigration lawyer. I still however, am imploring to my community for any help that can be given with affording the expedited fee alongside my visa application fee. As a young musician from a foreign country starting out in New York where living expenses are incredibly high, each month I just about make what I need to survive. As I become more settled here, work is picking up but I still would struggle immensely to afford to cover both my living costs and the costs of the visa application without additional help and support.

Any help that could be given will certainly go a LONG way and have long-lasting positive effects on the trajectory of a career that strikes a beautiful balance between hard work and indispensable support and encouragement from my global community.

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Roella Oloro