The Artist Visa: Journey of One International Artist

Chinatsu Ikeda

The Chicago art scene is indebted to the contributions of a large number of artists who were born outside of the United States, and currently, a significant number of these artists are ones we would refer to as “emerging.” In addition to the struggles that all emerging artists face (limited job opportunities, financing the studio, pursuing shows, grants and residencies, etc.) international artists have the added hurdle of having to prove to the United States Government that they should be allowed to live and work in this country. Here is the story of one such artist, in pursuit of her Artist Visa:

I came from Japan to Chicago to pursue my art education seven years ago. I received my BFA in Painting and Drawing in 2007 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and I just graduated with an MFA from the same school this May. Everyone who graduates from school panics after graduation. For international students, it is even harder to live and work as an artist since we have to acquire visa status. Myself included, many international artists go through these hardships, and an artist visa is essential in order to live and work as an artist in the United States.

In order to apply for an artist visa, you need to find a lawyer to build a case; you need a lawyer who can prove that you are a valuable artist. He or she will more likely be expensive the more experience they have and the higher the reputation they have. It is smart to find who fits your budget, and since the artist visa is federal matter, you may even want to expand you search into other states. For many emerging artists, it’s hard to find grants, fellowships or lucrative work in order to save up right after leaving school. Therefore, for newly-graduated international artists, money becomes a key issue in whether you are even able to apply. And even after you apply, there is always a chance that you will be denied.

How do lawyers prove that you are a “valuable” artist? As I researched the criteria for the artist visa, I found six legitimate reasons that lawyers use to build your case. An international artist must have:

• Leading or critical role in production having a distinguished reputation.
• Critical reviews in newspapers, magazines or trade journals
• Leading or critical role for organization with distinguished reputation
• Record of major commercial or critically-acclaimed success
• Significant recognition from organizations, critics, government agencies or other recognized experts in the field
• Commanded or will command high salary
If the above criteria do not apply, comparable evidence may be submitted to prove eligibility. (http://www.janeorgelesq.com/nonimmigrant/o1.html, Jane Orgel attorney at law)

According to these criteria, it sounds like you have to be Murakami in order to stay in the United States, but emerging artists are somehow getting visas fairly regularly. In order to meet these criteria, it seems that emerging artists likely need to get ‘over the top’ documentation from their references. The documentation needs to appear prestigious enough for those artists to be able to qualify. Therefore, the ability to trust in the capacities of your lawyer becomes essential.

One most unfortunate thing I heard is that it is especially difficult to get a visa at the present time because of the political and economic climate. What a visa allows you to do is to work legally here in the US. However since the economy is so bad, even though the government tries to give visas to immigrants, they want to make sure that US citizens get employed first. The high levels of unemployment in the United States make it that much harder for international artists right out of school to actually ‘emerge’ as artists.

I am also an emerging artist. For my part, I feel a bit nervous about meeting the criteria and applying for my artist visa, even though I have had shows and have prospective shows in near future; I’m worried that my experience will not sound good enough. Emerging artists are dealing a lot with gray areas. No matter how talented you are, in the end, the proof of your achievements is the most important thing.

Editor’s Afterward: After speaking with Ikeda, and several other young international artists I happen to know, I finally found someone who has successfully received an artist visa as an emerging artist. This artist explained that many of her fellow international artists have been asking, “How did you get it?” She told me that she explains to these people that she has hardly a clue. “Do you need a solo show on your resume?” they ask her. She answers that, yes, she has had a solo show at a prestigious commercial gallery in the city, but she can’t really judge whether that is necessarily what got her the visa, or that you absolutely need a solo exhibition in order to be approved for the visa. My artist friend explained that she paid for the expensive lawyer who’s highly experienced in the area of artist visas, and that she has no idea what this lawyer said in court, but that he did get her the visa in the end. —RD