Philippe Lemm
The struggles of international musicians shut out of jobless aid during the pandemic have highlighted larger issues with the U.S. immigration system.
When the CARES Act gave freelancers access to unemployment benefits for the first time in U.S. history late last March, New York-based drummer and band leader
Philippe Lemm (frontman for the Philipe Lemm Trio) wasn t certain if he qualified as the holder of an O-1B visa, which is granted to individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts.
The website for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) wasn’t much help. It said they would be lenient, says Lemm, a citizen of The Netherlands who came to the U.S. on an F-1 student visa in 2011 before being granted his first O-1B visa in 2013. But that’s a very stretchable term.
‘Catastrophic’: For Artists on Visas, Unemployment Claims Come With Severe Risk Billboard 5/11/2021 Philippe Lemm
When the CARES Act gave freelancers access to unemployment benefits for the first time in U.S. history late last March, New York-based drummer and band leader
Philippe Lemm (frontman for the Philipe Lemm Trio) wasn’t certain if he qualified as the holder of an O-1B visa, which is granted to individuals “with an extraordinary ability in the arts.”
The website for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) wasn’t much help. “It said they would be lenient,” says Lemm, a citizen of The Netherlands who came to the U.S. on an F-1 student visa in 2011 before being granted his first O-1B visa in 2013. “But that’s a very stretchable term.”