EC to Protest New U.S. Visa Restrictions on Artists : Diplomacy: A formal complaint to State Dept. is being prepared over proposed INS restrictions on foreign performers. Retaliation is hinted.

The 12-member European Community plans to file a formal State Department diplomatic protest--perhaps as early as next week--over proposed new Immigration and Naturalization Service restrictions on visas for foreign performing artists, The Times has learned.

The action by the EC--formerly known as the Common Market--is the key element in what appears to be growing international concern over the proposed INS visa rules. Separately, the Canadian and Australian governments confirmed that they will ask the INS to make extensive changes in the proposed regulations.

Moreover, in letters to at least two Cabinet secretaries, the Canadian ambassador in Washington has implied that Canada’s Parliament might enact retaliatory legislation to bar entry of American soloists and performance organizations if the INS does not back off.

And at the Soviet Embassy, a spokesman said that the U.S.S.R. would closely monitor the effects of the new visa rules on bilateral cultural relations. The spokesman, speaking on the condition he would not be named, said the Soviet government would probably not try to intervene in the INS rule-making process, but that if the new visa rules had the effect of putting a quota on Soviet performing artists who could enter the United States, a variety of actions in response might be contemplated.

“It would be a pity if (our) people were denied visas on the basis of quota,” he said. “It will not benefit the Soviet Union or the American people. It would be very disappointing for our artists to know that new regulations will cut their ties with the United States.”

The intensifying international concern has developed as key members of the House and Senate prepare a range of actions to try to head off the new INS rules.

A key congressman on immigration issues, Rep. Romano Mazzoli (D-Ky.), introduced legislation in the House on Thursday to block some of the most controversial aspects of the visa proposals. Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) said through a spokesman Thursday that he will ask an INS administrative law judge to delay implementation of the new rules to permit possible corrective legislation.

At issue are visa rules, scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, that would place a series of restrictions on foreign performing artists, professional athletes and even models who seek to enter the United States.

The greatest controversy has surrounded five provisions that would require anyone associated with an orchestra or dance troupe to have been with his company for at least a year before entering the United States; limit the number of such visas to 25,000 annually; prohibit applying for visas more than 90 days before a scheduled performance; require any artist getting such a permit to prove he or she is internationally acclaimed, and mandate consultation by the INS with relevant American arts labor unions before visas are issued.

But as the international controversy developed and action intensified in Congress to try to head off the new rules, labor organizations said they were both concerned and puzzled by the depth of the response. An official of the Screen Actors Guild contended that arts service organizations that represent presenting and producing groups have been less than candid about the degree to which promulgation of the new rules took them by surprise.

“I’m very much concerned that there is so much misinformation on the international scene, as well as domestically,” said John McGuire, SAG’s associate national executive director. “We have always been ready to talk about specific problems that might arise under these changes and to try, when it will not harm the interests of American workers and performer, to reach a compromise.”

McGuire and other union officials emphasized that they were most concerned with attempts by foreign government and domestic arts group to eliminate--entirely or just in part--the requirement for mandatory union consultation before visas can be issued.

“I find it hard to understand how anybody could object to having another party be able to give an opinion,” McGuire said Thursday. “The problem is there has been so much hysteria raised about this that it has not established a very good forum for discussion.”

Ella Krucoff, a spokeswoman for the EC’s European Commission in Washington--which functions as the EC’s embassy in the United States--said the community “is concerned and will be taking some action in the next few days.” She noted that the culture ministers of the EC countries met in Luxembourg early last month and drafted a detailed statement of concern over the new rules.

She said the Western European protest would propose that the U.S. government revise the visa restrictions to eliminate the 25,000-visa cap and to count entire orchestras and performing companies as one visa. She said the EC would also propose that the mandatory union consultation rule be altered to allow American embassies in the countries where performers reside to have greater influence on visa decisions.

The EC includes Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Ireland.