Palestinian artist Saint Levant delays tour amid US visa complications

The Palestinian singer-songwriter Marwan Abdelhamid, better known under the stage name Saint Levant, has announced he has postponed his debut North American tour after experiencing “major US visa issues”.

On Tuesday, in a post on the social media platform Instagram, Abdelhamid said the United States government had initially approved his visa application.

But as his tour dates approached, he explained that he was “unexpectedly” asked to undergo additional background checks.

“After discussions with my legal team, and speaking with some of my Palestinian and Arab peers who have gone through similar experiences, my team and I have made the difficult decision to postpone my North American concerts until spring 2027, in the hope that the visa process will be completed by then,” he wrote.

The 41-date tour was meant to be Abdelhamid’s biggest headline event to date. He was slated to travel across North America, Europe and the Middle East, with stops in US cities like Los Angeles, Brooklyn and Detroit.

But Abdelhamid’s decision to postpone his North American leg of the tour comes as part of a growing trend of performers having to cancel or reschedule their US-based events due to tighter immigration restrictions.

Since taking office for a second term, US President Donald Trump has taken multiple actions to limit entry to foreign nationals.

That includes suspending visa processing for nationals from 75 countries, including Brazil, Afghanistan, Senegal, Uruguay and Thailand.