Natanael Cano, a Mexican rapper, has been banned from the United States after authorities discovered his alleged visa fraud. The 24-year-old star is said to have lied about his identity as a religious artist on his visa application.
The Mexican singer reportedly submitted an R-1 visa, which is a temporary religious worker visa. However, officials soon realised that Natanael was “not a member of any congregation or church,” said journalist Javier Ciriani, as quoted by the Daily Mirror. Having caught his “shocking lie,” authorities eventually confiscated all his documentation needed to travel to the US.
The 24-year-old rapper’s first visa was facilitated by a previous company, while his second was backed by his own label, CT Records. US authorities are believed to have revoked his visa for “alleged fraud,” as they discovered he cashing in on profit through a potential religious visa application. Ciriani explained that officials paid more attention upon his third visa renewal, noting that he was “generating income” in the country despite not being a religious singer.
What is R-1 visa or religious worker visa?
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, an R-1 nonimmigrant is someone who comes to America to temporarily work as a minister or in a religious vocation or occupation. The person in question can then be employed by a non-profit religious organisation in the US, a religious organisation authorised by a group tax exemption holder to use it group tax exemption or a non-profit organisation affiliated with a religious denomination in the country.
“To qualify, you must have been a member of a religious denomination having a bona fide non-profit religious organization in the United States for at least two years immediately before filing the petition,” the official website mandates. Consequently, an R-1 classification allows a total period of stay in the US that can’t exceed five years.
Who is Natanael Cano?
He is best know for making his name in the “corridos tumbado” genre, which is deemed a fusion variation of regional style and trap music. Cano has even been regarded as the “king” of the musical style given his own experimentation with hip-hop, rap and other urban rhythms with the traditional Mexican music tone, as per his biography on BuenaMusica.
Five years ago, a Madrid news outlet reported that he was the first Mexican to be recognised as artist of the month by an Apple Music talent show. On gaining a mention by Apple Music’s Up Next program, he joined mainstream talents like Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, Khalid, Clairo and Megan Thee Stallion on the program aimed at discovering new emerging stars.
In 2019, Natanael Cano successfully collaborated with Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny on a remixed version of the single “Soy el Diablo,” gaining more international clout. Even more applause came his way, as he was nominated for the 2019 Radio Awards, broadcast on Estrella TV, in the “Revelation Artist of the Year” category.
As of today, he has over 23 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Some of his most recent musical releases include the album “Porque La Demora,” which came out earlier this month, and a remixed version of “Como Es” with Anuel AA, which dropped just this week. On the other side of social media, Cano has more than 11 million followers on Instagram.
Despite the Daily Mail reporting about US authorities revoking his visa and banning him from the country, Cano’s most recent social media activity came just hours ago. Of the three Instagram Stories he shared a while ago, two focussed on promoting his latest remix single “Como Es.” Cano’s brushes with the law don’t end there, as he is believed to be under the scanner for supposedly paying radio stations in Los Angeles to play his songs.
He is now at least the third Mexican artist to have his US visa revoked in recent times. The Trump administration previously targeted Julion Alvarez, right before his show in Arlington, Texas, on May 24, and the Mexican group Los Alegres del Barranco in April. While the former was at point allegedly linked to a drug lord, the latter appeared to have extolled infamous kingpins during their shows.