GABRIELLE PARÉ

HØRINGSUTTALELSE – ENDRINGER I REGLER OM OPPHOLDSTILLATELSE TIL SELVSTENDIG NÆRINGSDRIVENDE UTENFOR EØS-OMRÅDET

Verdensrommet (VR) is a self-organized mutual support network of non-EU/EEA artists and cultural workers (140+ artists) in Norway. We’ve been working to protect the labour rights of this community since March 2020.

The immigration regulations determine our labour conditions. We, therefore, submit a response to this høring on behalf of this group, whose terms for legal residency in Norway are directly addressed in the proposed update to the utlendingsforskriften. Artists and other workers within the field of culture are one of the largest groups applying for work permits for self-employment in the country (ref: pg. 4 of the Høringsnotat). Below, we enclose our comments on the Høringsbrev and ask you to consider the special conditions of an artist’s economy in the deliberation of updating immigration policy for self-employed workers.

VR has been working alongside Unge Kunstneres Samfund (UKS) and Norske Billedkunstnere (NBK) whose lawyers, Yngvild Solberg Grenier and Kim Erik Dahlskås, have also submitted a response to this høring, in consultation with us. VR is in agreement with the NBK høringssvar. Here, we wish to emphasize key points from their response. These are:

● Regarding the proposal to remove the step of involving fylkeskommuner from residency permit case handling: We see this as a proposal to speed up case processing time, and find it in favour of the interests of our group.

● Regarding the proposal to include public funds as a part of the financial basis (økonomisk grunnlag) of residency for self-employment: We see this as positive for our community. However, we wish to emphasize these points:

○ Public funds, in the form of artist working grants (Kulturrådet), artist stipends and project grants (Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond and Billedkunstnernes Hjelpefond) etc., are very important to an artist’s economy. Because these funds are awarded to artists based on past and upcoming artistic activity, they are meant to both help build an artist’s business, and to pay for services rendered. They are particularly important for artists in the establishing phase of their careers.

○ Artists are social entrepreneurs; we create public goods of social and cultural value which is equally, if not more, sustainable and enduring than other kinds of startups that have a focus on profit margins.

○ For these reasons, we encourage to the highest degree, that public funds awarded to artists and cultural workers be included in the economic basis of their residency applications.

● Regarding the need to be “self-sufficient” in the 12 months prior to applying for Permanent Residency (PR): We acknowledge that income from business activities will be viewed as more important than income from public funds. However, it is not clear from the original Høringsbrev, nor in jf. utlendingsloven § 62 første ledd bokstav f, whether the accepting of public funds would be in violation of the “self-sufficiency” criteria in the year leading up to the PR application. We underline that the receipt of public funds in the form of artistic grants should not be viewed as a lack of self-sufficiency, for the same reasons outlined above.

● Regarding the patchwork economy (lappeteppeøkonomi) of artists and cultural workers, as mentioned in the NBK høringssvar: We wish to amplify that artists and cultural workers depend on a combination of different income sources in order to support their creative practice.

○ The income requirement for self-employed visa permits is on average 150% higher* than what an artist can expect to earn as business income in a year. We therefore ask that all artists and cultural workers be allowed to earn an income by being both employed (up to 50%) as well as self-employment as a standard rule, and be given the permission to take-up work outside their field during the establishing phase, especially during the covid-19 pandemic.

○ Additionally, we would like to echo NBK’s suggestion that the financial basis for self-employed visa permits for artists should be calculated as an aggregate of 3 years or the past year, whichever meets the income requirement (currently, 253 378 NOK). This suggestion takes into account an important condition of artists' income that it varies widely from year to year. These changes would better reflect the reality of the way all artists and cultural workers earn a living in Norway.

○ We ask you to consider the possibility of a clause in the immigration regulations that might incorporate the above, recognizing the labour conditions particular to this community of workers.

In closing, we refer to Statsbudsjettet 2021, prop.1S, pg 12:

“Kunst og kultur har en unik posisjon til å gi rom for ytringsmangfold, minske avstand og binde mennesker sammen.... Kulturdepartementets mål er et krafttak for mangfold.”

A diverse and dynamic Norwegian cultural landscape is the result of having a plurality of practitioners in the field. We wish to safeguard the continued contributions made by non-EU/EEA artists and cultural workers to Norway’s art scene by ensuring that the reality of an artist’s economy is understood in the implementation of immigration regulations.

Best Regards,

Verdensrommet

Primary contacts: Rodrigo Ghattas-Peréz, Gabrielle Paré, Anthony Morton & Prerna Bishnoi

* Based on this report by the Norwegian government https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/rapport-kunstens-autonomi-og-kunstens-okonomi/id2364099/ in 2015, on average artists earned 89 000 NOK per year, while non-EU/EEA artists are obliged to earn approx. 150% more, amounting to 253 378 NOK in 2021 (always adjusted to inflation), in order to renew their residence permits.