Folks,
Making this show happen is one of the most fulfilling experiences in the world. But as you can imagine, it can be equally as frustrating. I’m afraid we have to announce a lineup change on day 2. We are heartbroken to announce Dream Evil has to cancel their ProgPower appearance once again.
With the visa petition approved on March 23rd, the band proceeded to book their visa interviews. 4 out of 5 members had no issues during that process and their visa was issued normally. The 5th member was notified when booking his interview that his passport number had been blacklisted due to a “previous conflict” and he wouldn’t be able to have a visa issued until at least January 2019. Upon further investigation, the US embassy in Stockholm found out that Dept. of Homeland Security blacklisted his passport number because in a recent trip with his wife to Mexico, they “flew into US airspace” - without actually landing in the country!
Over the years, we have seen several issues with USCIS and DHS in regards to visa approval and denials. We have never, however, seen anything as absurd as this excuse. He has no criminal background nor there is a history of misuse or illegal entry in the country. We are still perplexed by how crazy of a reason this is. Even our visa lawyer is baffled. We spent a long time trying to work this out with them. Embassy calls. USCIS calls. Lawyer calls. Milton personally involved one of his congressmen who was able to assist in clearing visa issues in the past, but no luck this time. And since this is a vital member for their performance, the band has no choice but to pull the plug on the show.
I will say this... in no way, shape or form this is the management or the band’s fault. They were diligent in working with us at every step of the way and eager to make it happen given the previous cancelation. I have no doubts we’ll eventually get them over here. Hopefully the third time will be the charm.
A replacement has already been confirmed and we will be announcing it later today.
-Milton and Nathan
Making this show happen is one of the most fulfilling experiences in the world. But as you can imagine, it can be equally as frustrating. I’m afraid we have to announce a lineup change on day 2. We are heartbroken to announce Dream Evil has to cancel their ProgPower appearance once again.
With the visa petition approved on March 23rd, the band proceeded to book their visa interviews. 4 out of 5 members had no issues during that process and their visa was issued normally. The 5th member was notified when booking his interview that his passport number had been blacklisted due to a “previous conflict” and he wouldn’t be able to have a visa issued until at least January 2019. Upon further investigation, the US embassy in Stockholm found out that Dept. of Homeland Security blacklisted his passport number because in a recent trip with his wife to Mexico, they “flew into US airspace” - without actually landing in the country!
Over the years, we have seen several issues with USCIS and DHS in regards to visa approval and denials. We have never, however, seen anything as absurd as this excuse. He has no criminal background nor there is a history of misuse or illegal entry in the country. We are still perplexed by how crazy of a reason this is. Even our visa lawyer is baffled. We spent a long time trying to work this out with them. Embassy calls. USCIS calls. Lawyer calls. Milton personally involved one of his congressmen who was able to assist in clearing visa issues in the past, but no luck this time. And since this is a vital member for their performance, the band has no choice but to pull the plug on the show.
I will say this... in no way, shape or form this is the management or the band’s fault. They were diligent in working with us at every step of the way and eager to make it happen given the previous cancelation. I have no doubts we’ll eventually get them over here. Hopefully the third time will be the charm.
A replacement has already been confirmed and we will be announcing it later today.
-Milton and Nathan
