A message from Fernando to New Candys' American fans:
What does it mean to tour the United States now, at this particular moment in history?
Before deciding whether to come back on tour in North America, I had, and we had, our doubts, for several reasons.
Over the past two years, unfortunately, the US visa costs have increased, and they were already extremely high before. But when the concrete possibility of returning presented itself, it became a happy and resolute decision: fuck the money.
For many years now, the United States and the whole North America has been the number one territory where we have the most people listening to us, and that really matters.
When I talk with friends and people working in the music industry, whether they are American, Italian or from any other country, I realize that it’s not widely known how much a non-US band has to spend to obtain a temporary work visa to play in the US. So I want to shed some light on this and lay out exactly what the costs are:
- $810 - USCIS filing fee.
- $2805 - USCIS premium processing fee, which unfortunately we’ve always had to pay every time we applied for the visa, no matter how early we started the process.
- $1850 - Lawyers’ fees.
- $450 - Musicians’ union fee.
- $880 - Embassy fee (which is $205 per band member, so it is the only amount that changes depending on how many people are in the band. The total for us should therefore be $820, but in reality we paid €728, which corresponds to approximately $880).
- $150 - Round-trip travel from Venice to Milan, the closest US embassy to us, where we will attend the visa interviews.
- $190 - Passports home delivery. Collecting them in Milan 3–5 days after the interviews would have been free, but it’s impossible for us.
=
$7135 TOTAL, which is exactly €6000
The visa can be valid for up to one year, which usually allows a band to do two tours with it.
Just to give a reference: last year, as a European band, the visa cost us $170 to play in the UK, $858 to play in Australia and $356 to play in New Zealand.
The price difference compared to the US visa is really huge.
Money has almost never been a problem, and the main reason why we play music has never been financial. At the same time, of course, it’s an important part of our work. Expenses like this take away some important sense of security and limit how much we can invest in the show. We want to perform at our best, just like you want to see us, without compromises.
That’s why I’ve decided to open a fundraiser to help cover as much of this expense as possible. We will come on tour anyway, no matter what, regardless of how much is raised, so don’t worry about that :)
One of the most meaningful things I’ve seen in the US is how people support culture. Thank you in advance to anyone who donates, any amount helps us absorb this necessary legal expense.
Much love to our American fans and friends, see you very soon!
We’re extremely excited to come back and play for you.
Fernando, New Candys.
P.S. As a final note, here’s an interesting thing: last year I've sent an email to the European Union (I actually found an email address) asking whether there is any intention to change things, and why European artists have to face such high costs, while, thankfully, a US band touring in Europe doesn’t need a visa at all. This was their response:
Dear Mr Nuti,
Thank you for contacting the Europe Direct Contact Centre.
The European Union aims to achieve full visa reciprocity with non-EU countries whose citizens can enter the Schengen area without a visa
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Currently, the EU has achieved visa reciprocity with all relevant third countries, except for the United States.
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