A warning to all Filipino entertainers: Performing on a visitor’s visa could result in a lifetime ban

Many entertainers are under the mistaken belief that it’s "OK" to enter the US (or Guam) and perform on a visitor’s visa. That is not the case. In fact, the Foreign Affairs Manual (which is the "Bible" of the Embassy on immigration laws) specifically states: "B visa status is not appropriate for a member of the entertainment profession (professional entertainer) who seeks to enter the United States temporarily to perform services."

If you are coming to the US to perform, you must get an entertainer ("O" or "P") visa. If you perform on a visitor’s visa, you are violating your visitor’s status. If you represent to the Immigration Officer at the airport that you are only "visiting", but you are actually intending to perform, you are committing fraud, which could possibly result in your visitor visa being cancelled, and your being barred for life from the US.

Many entertainers are approached or recruited by small-time US producers, who simply do not want to go through the trouble or expense of obtaining entertainer visas. Indeed, obtaining an entertainer visa is time-consuming and can cost thousands of dollars in filing fees alone. So, these producers, looking to cut corners and save money, assure the performers that it is "OK" to perform on a visitor’s visa.

Other unscrupulous small-time producers may tell the entertainer to enter the US on a visitor’s visa and bring along a "minus-one," (a CD with music only, similar to a karaoke soundtrack). The entertainer would then come to the producer’s nightclub, restaurant, or other business establishment and sit in the audience. The producer will then acknowledge the performer, and ask them to just come on stage and sing a few songs to please their adoring fans. The star is supposed to pretend that he or she is surprised, and reluctantly goes on stage, singing to their minus-one soundtrack.

In other situations, the entertainer may already have an entertainer visa with one producer for a specific event. However, a different producer approaches the entertainer, offering them money to come to the other producer’s nightclub or restaurant and perform "on the side," or "freelance." In the meantime, the second producer (who never petitioned the entertainer) is putting out newspaper ads and fliers promoting the performance, and selling tickets for the event.

Rest assured, the Embassy and Department of Homeland Security will find out, either from the producer’s jealous competitors, or from word of mouth. So, when you arrive in the US and tell the Immigration Officer you’re "just visiting", Immigration may already have a flier of your concert at the inspection booth. Your visa will be cancelled and you will be sent right back to the Philippines. If not caught on this trip, it may be the next time you travel to the US or when applying for another visa.

Remember, if you, as an entertainer, are caught by the Embassy or Department of Homeland Security, it is you who will suffer the consequences, not necessarily the producer. The producer may simply abandon you and look for their next talent to book. You are then left with a cancelled visitor’s visa, blacklisted, and perhaps forever barred from coming to the US.

Simply put, if a producer does not want to obtain an entertainer visa for you, you are taking a big chance with your own career and future, if you use your visitor’s visa to perform. Is it really worth it for the small talent fee being offered?

A relative or a friend's legal advise could be wrong

Many people rely on the advice of friends or relatives for their immigration problems, rather than consulting an attorney. After all, it’s cheaper. But many times, a friend’s "advice" is wrong, can mess up a person’s immigration situation, and can put a person in an even worse position than if they had done nothing at all. When people in this situation come to me for consultation, I ask "What law school did your friend or relative go to, that you’re following his legal advice?"

Here are some examples of wrong advice by friends that many people followed, only to find themselves in a worse situation:

1. A woman was applying for a visitor’s visa, so that she could attend her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in the US. She was a teacher in the Philippines. She had a stable job, property, etc. However, just before she went to the Embassy for an interview, she was told by friends that she should submit a fake tax return, showing that she was making more money than she actually was, to increase her chances of success in obtaining a visitor’s visa. Because this advice came from a friend, she listened, and bought a fake tax return from Recto Street. The Embassy instantly spotted that it was fake, and she was refused the visa. What makes the situation even worse, is that she may have had a good chance of obtaining the visitor’s visa, had she simply been truthful, and submitted genuine documents.

2. People came to the US as visitors and wanted to work. They were told by friends or relatives to apply for political asylum (claiming to be persecuted in the Philippines) or CSS/LULAC (claiming they had been in the US since 1981, and therefore entitled to an "amnesty" green card). By applying for political asylum or CSS/LULAC, they could get work authorization, and everything would be fine. However, in applying for these types of benefits, they had to lie and submit fake papers. But, the friends further advised that, "It’s OK, everyone does it, and the CIS will never catch on." Now, people are finding that their applications are being denied, and they are being placed in deportation or removal proceedings by the DHS. In many cases they were qualified for legitimate immigration benefits, such as temporary working visas (H-1B) for college graduates or green cards through Labor Certification (employer-sponsored green cards for professionals and skilled workers). But, they messed up their case, by listening to the advice of friends, instead of attorneys.

The bottom line is that when you are sick, don’t you go to a doctor? When you have a toothache, don’t you go to a dentist? Then why, when you have a legal matter, don’t you go to an attorney? If your child needed surgery, would you listen to the advice of a friend as to how to perform the surgery, or, would you go to a surgeon?

Therefore, if you have a legal matter, you should seek the advice of a reputable attorney who can possibly help you in solving it. People should know that their immigration status is perhaps the most important thing in their life in America. Not a day goes by that these people don’t think about their immigration status and how their whole future in America is up in the air or in jeopardy until they are finally in valid, legal status.

If their friends tell them to commit fraud and submit fake documents, will their friends be there when things go wrong and/or when they get placed in removal/deportation? Or will the friend say, "You need an attorney"?

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