CASC is very happy to announce a new partnership with Tamizdat and CoveyLaw. Based out of New York City, these two affiliated organizations are truly committed to helping artists get into the U.S.

Tamizdat (http://www.tamizdat.org) is a non-profit whose mission is to promote cultural exchange. It does research, education, and advocacy about artist mobility issues into the U.S. Most important for us, it runs a project called “TazmidatAVAIL” which is a 24-hour pro bono artist visa crisis hotline for artists who run into problems getting into the U.S. So if you’re stuck at the border you could call Tamizdat’s hotline and they will do what they can to help you. They also provide educational resources and up to date information on the constantly evolving immigration scenario in the United States.
CoveyLaw (https://www.covey.law/) is a law firm that grew out of a Tamizdat. They handle visas for over 3000 performing artists each year at fees that are well below those charged by other firms and commercial agencies. They help artists navigate the often arduous process of working in the U.S., and this is great news for Canadian stand-up comedians who historically have had to pay upwards of 5k to 10k to get a 01 Visa.
The two organizations work closely together, and we’ve had several conversations with them and they’ve been tremendous. Here’s an article about Covey in the New Yorker.
We urge you to keep up to date with what’s happening there. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to get and maintain O1 Visas and rules are changing every day. There is so much goodwill in the U.S. for foreign performers, and many people there want to make it easier for Canadian performers to work, but the current administration isn’t fond of artists and workers from outside of their country. We are very lucky to have CoveyLaw and Tamizdat working with CASC on behalf of its members and would like to extend a very warm welcome to the CASC family.