Pogo No Go

Australian producer and YouTube sensation Pogo banned from the US for ten years for visa violations.

It was a wrong turn on a highway during a tour of North America that saw Western Australian producer Nick Bertke aka Pogo detained then deported from the States with a ten year ban from entering the country again, charged with visa violations. In September last year, Bertke’s tour bus driver took a wrong turn towards the Canadian border where they were stopped by border patrol and asked for their passports. Upon discovering that he was touring under a visa waiver, US officers arrested Bertke, detaining him for three weeks in county and federal detention centers.

In his desperation to start touring again Pogo uploaded a video explaining his situation and pleading for help from fans. He maintains that he has been treated unfairly by US border security and that a ten year ban is totally unjustified especially when he believes he is not at fault.

If you haven’t heard of Pogo you best get on it right now because you’re missing out. The 24 year-old movie mash up artist is a sensation on YouTube, racking up over 22 millions views and 230 thousand subscribers since his channel’s inauguration in 2007. Bertke’s clever remixes of films and music are a wicked feast for the eyes and ears. His creative productions cannot be contained as they has seen him travel the world, including the United States, hosting shows, exhibits end even copyright seminars. Here’s a taste of what you’re missing.

Now before we continue we must get one thing straight: as much as it pains me to say it, Berkte is in the wrong. The fact of the matter is it’s illegal to tour the US on a visa waiver. Under US travel laws a visa waiver can be used for, and I quote;

“amateurs in musical, sports, or similar events or contests, if they are not being paid for participating” (source)

Also a visa waiver only lasts 90 days. For a guy like Bertke, the appropriate paperwork would include a P (WORK) VISA: a performing working visa applicable for musicians and the like. These are business trips that he was going on where he was earning money for services rendered; you can’t do that on a visa waiver.

Berkte insists that it was his agency, The Agency Group, that failed to advise him on the appropriate documentation, that they had misguided him in his tour preparations. He has since dropped the group and turned to his lawyers who say that he is screwed. It’s now up to his fans to save him via signing an online petition. The petition will see Bertke able to tour again, this time under the correct paperwork, if it reaches 100 thousand signatures by the 13th of April this year.

It’s painful to see such an immense talent like Pogo to be restricted from the opportunities that await him in the US, even more painful because it’s his fault. A lack of awareness and understanding has lead him to a difficult situation with his future as a musician at stake. 10 years is a long time.