Earlier this year, the wonderful Albanian soprano, Ermonela Jaho, made her Royal Opera House debut after flying in overnight from New York to step into the shoes of the Russian soprano, Anna Netrebko, who became ill after her first performance as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata.

The Home Office and the UK Border Agency pulled out all the stops to get Ms Jaho a work permit at such short notice. Without their help, we would have disappointed many thousands of audience members that night. However if the Home Office proposals for a new points-based immigration system go ahead this autumn, getting many foreign artists at a very late stage would no longer be possible and performances could be cancelled.

Artists from outside the European Economic Area will be subject to a points-based scheme to qualify for entry, and many will have to get a biometric visa. It will add many more financial and bureaucratic hurdles to British arts organisations. Each artist in a visiting dance troupe, opera company or orchestra will have to individually attend a British consulate to obtain a visa, surrendering their passports for a few days, and then get it renewed after six months. For a large orchestra, the visa costs could cost as much as £15,000, making tours less financially viable.

The problem will be a very real one. We have more than 20 nationalities in The Royal Ballet and in 2005/06 we had guest artists from more than 22 countries. In our 2007/08 Season, we presented five overseas companies in the Linbury Studio Theatre, and this summer Victor Hochhauser is presenting both the National Ballet of China and the Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe at the ROH.

The proposals will affect our ability to invite visiting companies to the Opera House, threatening our standing as a centre for artistic excellence. These barriers will diminish the artistic vibrancy and the richness of British cultural life. The Home Office states that the new scheme will “ensure, through a robust migration and visa policy, that UK borders are open to people who bring talent, business and creativity, but closed to those who might cause harm or come here illegally”. But it is hard to imagine a group of people to whom this applies more directly than the international artists who perform with our companies and on our stages.

The Government does not intend to restrict world-class artists who contribute so much to artistic life in Britain. But just as elite sportspeople visiting the UK will be treated more favourably to enable them to work here, provision should be made for the very finest international artistic talent.

Tony Hall is the chief executive of the Royal Opera House

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