Canadian musicians struggle to get visas to perform in the U.S., some cancel shows

Backlogs and processing delays of temporary U.S. visas required by entertainers, athletes and artists has forced some Canadian bands to cancel U.S. tour dates because paperwork wasn't processed in time.

Some Canadian musicians set to perform in the United States this summer face the question — will the show go on?

Backlogs and processing delays of temporary U.S. visas required by entertainers, athletes and artists has forced some Canadian bands to cancel U.S. tour dates because paperwork wasn't processed in time.

Fredericton's "Josh Bravener & The Hypochondriacs" called off six shows scheduled for July 23-28 in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania because the band's temporary visa applications are stuck in a long queue.

"I just got an email yesterday saying it was still (a) five-and-a-half-month wait before they would even look at them, basically," Bravener said.

The one-week trip took months to organize, the lead singer said. The group also bought a van and made special stickers and T-shirts.

"It's all this work we did kind of thrown out. Pointless," Bravener said. "It's frustrating because we're just going down to play music."

Bandmate and guitarist Connor Fox said the festivals and venues have been understanding but it's still a hit, noting a lot of time and money goes into planning a tour and the musicians were looking forward to taking their music outside of the country.