The holiday season is approaching! Please mark your calendars with our upcoming office closures, which will impact processing times:
- Veterans Day – CLOSED on Monday, November 11: Any submissions received after 5pm ET on Friday, November 8 will be considered received on Tuesday, November 12.
- Thanksgiving Holiday – CLOSED from November 27 through December 1: AGMA's Visa Department will reopen on Monday, December 2. Standard requests received AFTER 5pm ET on Tuesday, November 19 will be processed after the holiday break. Any expedited requests received AFTER 5pm ET on Friday, November 22 will be processed after the holiday break.
- Christmas Holiday – CLOSED from December 23, 2024 through January 1, 2025: AGMA's Visa Department will reopen on Thursday, January 2, 2025. To receive an advisory opinion letter BEFORE our holiday break:
- REGULAR PROCESSING ($350, 5-7 business days): Complete submissions MUST be received no later than Friday, December 13 by 5pm ET
- EXPEDITED PROCESSING ($550, 2-3 business days): Complete submissions MUST be received no later than Wednesday, December 18 by 5pm ET. Any visa consultation requests submitted on December 19, 2024 and through January 1, 2025 will be processed in the New Year.
Table of Contents
FEES, PROCESSING TIMELINE, & PAYMENT INFO
AGMA accepts payments by wire or ACH transfers only. The preparer/petitioner is responsible for remitting the payment. Please note that processing begins once we receive the required materials listed below and the fee payment clears our bank. Incomplete wire/ACH payments and bank information or incomplete submissions requiring revision or amendments may be subject to processing delays.
AGMA VISA CONSULTATION FEES:
$550.00 for EXPEDITED PROCESSING - process time approximately 2-3 business days from receipt of complete visa consultation submissions. We do not offer same-day service.
$350.00 for STANDARD PROCESSING - process time of approximately 5-7 business days from receipt of complete visa consultation submissions.
- Ensure AGMA gets the full amount. Transfer charges/fees, if any, should be paid separately on your end.
- Please process the correct fee amount. AGMA has a NO REFUND policy.
Information for Wire/ACH transfer to AGMA from outside the USA:
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas
BIC : BKTRUS33XXX
A/C # 20165187
I/N/O: American Guild of Musical Artists, Inc.
Information for Wire/ACH transfer to AGMA from within the USA:
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas
ABA#021001033
A/C#20165187
I/N/O American Guild of Musical Artists, Inc.
Deutsche Bank address:
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas
1 Columbus Circle 18th Floor,
New York, NY 10019
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
After processing your wire or ACH transfer, please email your visa consultation submission PDF file format to visas@musicalartists.org. Please limit your submission ONLY to the required materials listed below:
1. Completed AGMA COVER SHEET.
2. Copy of the USCIS Form I-129, including the O/P Supplement to form I-129 (pages 26-28) and Attachment 1 pages for all beneficiaries on the petition (pages 35-36).
3. A list of the artist(s) and the function they perform in the group. If more than 10 beneficiaries are on your petition, please send us this list in an editable format (i.e. in the body of your email or Word Document) – listing your beneficiaries exactly as their names should appear on the AGMA consultation letter.
4. Copy of contract and itinerary of artist(s).
5. Documentation to support the reputation, ability and/or cultural uniqueness of the artist(s). Please limit supporting documentation to 20-30 pages. Supporting documents must be in English or accompanied by a complete English translation.
Please refrain from sending us copies of passports or previously issued visa stamps, tax forms, or other immigration forms aside from what’s mentioned above.
Please don't send us your materials in multiple emails! If you are unable to send your PDF files as email attachments, we encourage you to share your submissions via Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or Dropbox with VIEW-ONLY access (please don't use WeTransfer). As you can, we encourage you to schedule viewing expiration dates for shared drive links or manually deactivate the link once you receive your advisory opinion letter. We will not open any zip files or image files (JPEG, PNG, TIFF, etc.).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
According to USCIS, a consultation from a U.S. peer group, labor organization, and/or management organization is generally required for petitions in the O and P visa classifications.
The purpose of a labor consultation letter (otherwise known as an “advisory opinion letter” or a “no objection letter”) is to determine whether artists from other countries, who are applying for a work visa in the United States, have the artistic ability and expertise to qualify for O or P visa eligibility.
AGMA offers consultation letters for the following visa classifications:
- O-1B: Individual artist with extraordinary ability in the arts
- O-1A: Individual, competitive (DanceSport) dancer who can be considered an athlete of extraordinary ability
- O-2: Support personnel (that do not fall under any other Union’s jurisdiction) for O-1B or O-1A candidates
- P-1B: Internationally recognized entertainment group of artists, or member of an internationally recognized entertainment group of artists
- P-1S: Support personnel (that do not fall under any other Union’s jurisdiction) for P-1 candidates
- P-1A: Group of DanceSport dancers, or member of a group of DanceSport dancers, considered athletes
- P-3: Artist or entertainer coming to the US to be a part of a culturally unique program. Can be a solo artist or group
- P-3S: Support personnel (that do not fall under any other Union’s jurisdiction) for P-3 candidates
Per the USCIS Address Index for I-129 O and P Consultation Letters, AGMA covers, but is not limited to covering, the following categories of performers:
- Opera Singers
- Concert and solo singers
- Solo and group instrumentalists (may include singers)
- Dancers
- Choreographers
- Stage Directors and Assistant Stage Directors
- Stage Managers and Assistant Stage Managers
- Music Producers
- Stage Production Personnel employed by dance and opera companies or employers other than Broadway, Off-Broadway, EMC productions and any technical personnel under IATSE’s jurisdiction
- Narrators in concert, recital, oratorio, opera and dance
- Other live performers (including songwriters, Disc Jockeys, figure skaters, circus performers, mimes and puppeteers) not covered by other unions such as Actors’ Equity or AGVA
- Live performers in new media formats and actors in non-Equity productions
If your job title doesn’t appear on this list, please reach out to us at visas@musicalartists.org and we can let you know if we can cover it or not.
If you are requesting consultation letters for a principal artist or entertainment group as well as their support personnel, we require TWO fee payments (which can be processed in one wire or ACH transfer) and TWO submissions (one for the principal artist or entertainment group, and one for the essential support staff). TWO separate AGMA consultation letters will be generated for requests of this nature. For example, if you are requesting an O-1B and an O-2 consultation letter, the total cost would be $700 for standard processing and $1,100 for expedited processing, we would expect to receive TWO sets of submission materials via email to accompany the request for the two necessary consultation letters.
For essential support staff petitions (O-2, P-1S, and P-3S), please note that we issue one letter for all the essential support staff that fall under AGMA’s jurisdiction.
All consultation letters are sent electronically via email. Please note that we only process letters on business days (Monday – Friday) not including weekends or holidays. Processing begins only when we receive all AGMA-required documents and the full consultation fee payment. Please refer to our processing times and submission requirements. To estimate your processing timeline, we encourage use of the resource linked below:
https://www.timeanddate.com/date/weekdayadd.html
(AGMA offices are typically closed on federal holidays, which will impact processing time.)
We always confirm receipt of the materials within 1 business day. If you don’t receive a confirmation email, please follow up with us! Note that, due to the very high volume of emails, we cannot always confirm receipt of the fee payment as the payment may not have cleared our bank account at the time you email us your materials.
Please make sure to add visas@musicalartists.org to your email contacts, to ensure that our emails won’t be sent to your spam folder or filtered out by your server.
If your consultation letter needs a revision/correction and has not been submitted to USCIS yet, please contact us as soon as possible. Revision requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and are not guaranteed. Revision requests may be subject to resubmission, an additional consultation fee and/or an entirely new consultation process.
We cannot revise letters once they have been filed with/submitted to USCIS. You must request a new consultation and pay a new consultation fee for AGMA to issue a new letter.
On January 30, 2024 USCIS announced its final rule updating visa fees across several visa classification categories. As of April 1, 2024, a maximum of 25 beneficiaries can be included on a single petition for O-2, P-1A, P-1B, P-1S, P-3, and P-3S classifications. Please refer to the new I-129 form instructions. AGMA is now only accepting the new I-129 form that is available on the USCIS website (unless your petition was filed with USCIS prior to April 1, 2024).
AGMA will continue to review cases with groups of 25+ beneficiaries (that would have been filed under a single petition before April 1, 2024 and are now being filed under multiple petitions per the new USCIS rule) as ONE consultation request (with ONE fee payment) and you need to email us with:
- ALL I-129 forms pertaining to the same group, including the O/P supplement and attachment-1 pages for each form. You must clearly indicate how the beneficiaries are grouped together for each I-129 form as we must issue separate consultation letters for each form that is being filed to USCIS. For example, if you are petitioning for a P-3 group with 50 beneficiaries, you must send us two I-129 forms with the respective 25 beneficiaries on each form.
- ONE set of materials (contracts, itinerary, supporting documents and editable list of beneficiaries and their job functions)
- AGMA will continue to charge ONE visa consultation fee for the petitions for groups of 25+ beneficiaries provided that the beneficiaries are all members of the same P-1B or P-3 entertainment group (or are O-2, P-1S or P-3S essential support staff assisting the same principal O-1 artist or P-1/P-3 entertainment group), are being filed under the same petitioner and are coming to perform/work at the same US performances or events, during the same period of time and in the same location. If the materials submitted don’t fulfil the above conditions, AGMA reserves the right to charge an additional fee(s) in order to issue the necessary consultation letters.
For example, if you are petitioning for a ballet company with 40 dancers that previously required a single P-1B petition and now requires two P-1B petitions, you must email us ONE (1) consultation request with:
a) a completed AGMA cover sheet
b) A copy of one I-129 form, including the respective O/P supplement form and all attachment 1 pages of the 25 beneficiaries on the form AND the list of the 25 beneficiaries' full names and job functions in an editable format
c) A copy of the second I-129 form, including the respective O/P supplement form and all attachment 1 pages of the 15 beneficiaries on the form AND the list of the 15 beneficiaries' full names and job functions in an editable format
d) ONE set of materials: contracts, itineraries, and 20-30 pages max of support documentation and
e) ONE fee payment via wire or ACH transfer ($350 for standard or $550 for expedited processing).
AGMA will issue two separate P-1B consultation letters for each form being filed with USCIS.
Again, this only applies to groups that would have been previously filed under a single petition under the former USCIS guidance and are now being filed under multiple petitions under the new USCIS rule effective April 1, 2024.