The U.S. Embassy in Nepal has blacklisted Nepalese artists from getting visas
The U.S. Embassy in Nepal has blacklisted Nepalese artists from getting visas for the United States. A special kind of visa, the P-3, is issued for artists who are coming to perform in the country. After being blacklisted, some of the artists have started to come here through a visitor or other kind of visa.
According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 106,325 artists were issued P-3 visas for entry into the U.S. last year. Among them, the number of Nepali artists who received the visa was only 16, with most of those visas granted in the first three months of 2012. After March 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Nepal stopped granting P-3 visas for Nepali artists until further notice.
The move comes after artists started coming to the U.S. and staying permanently, disregarding the timeline and expiration of the visas. In addition, program organizers would send out fake invitations for the visas after receiving money from the artists. After halting the issuing of P-3 visas to artists in Nepal, some artists have still managed to arrive here through tourist or religious visas.
The artists who have tried to apply for a P-3 visa after March 2012 have had their application rejected by the embassy with a notice that it does not grant P-3 visas anymore. One of the artists who was rejected for the visa was told by the embassy, “There are already of lot of Nepali artists in America, therefore we cannot grant anymore visas.”