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Visiting artists and Academics Campaign

Deported stamps imageThe Home Office introduced new restrictions on international artists and academics visiting the UK for talks, temporary exhibitions, concerts or artists’ residencies. Visitors now have to submit to a series of arduous and expensive proceedures to get their visa, and then more bureaucratic controls when they are in the UK. Already a series of concerts and residencies have been cancelled.

The Manifesto Club is coordinating a campaign against these regulations, in alliance with artists, musicians, gallery directors, academics and students. Together we call for these parochial and suspicious regulations to be reconsidered, and affirm the vital contribution made by global artists and scholars to UK cultural and intellectual life.

LATEST: This campaign won major concessions and a change in UK visa rules. See our briefing on the changes.

There will be a Campaign Celebration event on 13 June, to mark the gains and discuss next steps.

TAKE ACTION!

  • Sign the petition! We are now over 10,000 signatures, including Antony Gormley, Jeremy Deller, Anne Fine and Maureen Duffy. Add your support and forward to your friends and colleagues.
  • Join the campaign Facebook group
  • Send us testimonies: If you have been (or will be) affected by these regulations, please do complete our campaign’s online survey or email visitingartists@manifestoclub.com
  • Email your MP: You can easily write to your MP, raising your concerns about the points-based visa system, using Write to them. Your message will be faxed or emailed directly to your local MP.
  • Join the Campaign Coordinating Committee – if you would like to help promote and coordinate the campaign, we meet bimonthly in central London. Email us here.
  • Pass a motion in your organisation: Propose a motion against the visa system, or write a letter to the head of your organisation. See the statements from EnglishUK, Universities UK, and Cambridge ESOL, Goldsmiths ‘Students not Suspects’.
  • Donate to this campaign: Help us run this campaign by clicking on the donation button on the right. With a little more money, we could do a lot more!

REPORTS

The Manifesto Club has produced a series of reports showing the effects of these new visa rules:

See our artists and academics testimonies page

MEDIA

A selection of media coverage of the campaign:

For full coverage, see Media page

CAMPAIGN NETWORK AND RESOURCES

We campaign against these regulations in collaboration and solidarity with the following organisations and campaigns:

For ongoing commentary on the UK visa system, see Valerie Hartwich’s blog.

MEETINGS

Upcoming:

Past events:

    Saturday 16 October – Points-Based Immigration System in Context: Research + Campaign Strategies – University of London Union, 10am-6pm. For more details, see the Facebook page.
    2 June – There will be a campaign coordinating meeting, at Goldsmiths, University of London, 5pm. If you are interested in attending, email Valerie Hartwich.