The price of visa applications for artists visiting the US will be increased.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced the increase in price of immigration applications and petitions, including petitions for nonimmigrant workers. This umbrella covers foreign touring musicians (and other artists or athletes), and will be effective from December 23.

Pitchfork reports that there will be a hike in fees from $325 to $460, an increase of 42%. This sum applies per performing act; an additional fee of the same value will also be incurred by any support crews.

The news has caused outcry already. Billboard reported that the Canadian Federation of Musicians view it as an “unacceptable financial burden,” while Resident Advisor spoke to Jason Garden (a.k.a. Olin), the booker at Chicago’s smartbar, who feared it would become “increasingly (often prohibitively) difficult for emerging talent to break into the US market.”