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Supermodels have it all - looks, money and some powerful admirers who are willing to change US law so they can pass more easily through border controls.
Anthony Weiner, a member of the US House of Representatives, is pressing for the creation of a new kind of visa that would keep the catwalks of New York and Los Angeles packed with exotic foreign beauties.
With annual limits on the number of visas for foreigners with special talents, models find themselves competing against computer geeks and scientists for access.
Weiner, 43, denied he was campaigning in the hope of meeting Naomi Campbell or Giselle Bundchen. “Current visa laws are . . . a mess, and representative Weiner hopes by taking models out of the equation and into their own category to relieve some pressures on every area of business,” said an aide.
Weiner, a Democrat from New York, says that the foreign look is in vogue in his city’s multi-billion-dollar fashion business. Bundchen is the world’s highest earning model. Forbes magazine said the Brazilian earned £17m last year.
Weiner’s plans may also make it easier for British pop music stars whose entry visas have been rejected by the US Immigration Service.
Last spring Amy Winehouse was invited to perform at the Grammy music awards in Los Angeles, but questions were raised about her drug use and she was turned down. Her American managers appealed but by the time officials relented Winehouse had decided against the flight.
Several other UK groups have arranged sold-out tours of the United States but failed to convince authorities that they have been “internationally recognised” for a “sustained and substantial” amount of time.
These include singer Lily Allen, who had her US visa withdrawn last March, the Mercury prize-winning band Klaxons and Mystery Jets, the London rockers.
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