Clowns need faster UK visas
August 13 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
UK visa approval too slow for clowns
UK visas should be granted more easily than ever for clowns and other circus performers as Britain experiences a severe shortage in professional circus talent.
The unique skills of circus artists means it is easy for qualified performers to score enough points under the new UK immigration points-based system.
But ringmasters say it has been anything but easy for performers to obtain work visas.
Some blame side effects of the points-based system’s arrival, including faulty computer software and poorly-trained embassy staff, for the number of performing artists stranded abroad as they await approval to work in the UK.
Malcolm Clay, secretary of the Association of Circus Proprietors of Great Britain,, says the visa processing hold-up is out of line with the UK’s needs for circus performers. He believes the UK does not produce an adequate number of professionally-trained performers who plan to dedicate their lives to circus performance.
About 50% of the 500 circus performers who enter the UK annually are from outside the EU and require temporary work visas. Not all of them have the ability to access technology-based UK visa applications, such as performers from rural Mongolia.
Clay recently appeared before the House of Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee to represent international circus performers’ visa issues and contest the UK policies which have proven inhospitable to the industry.
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