Help Kelly Get Back to Scotland In Time For Fringe

Aim

Oops! Kelly accidentally was deported from Scotland. Please help her return for her Edinburgh Fringe Festival show in August!

Hello, I am Icarus and I flew too close to the sun. Just kidding, I am Kelly and I misunderstood the UK government’s immigration laws. After a quick trip to Edinburgh airport’s “naughty box", a firm slap on the wrist, and a lot of international travel, I am back in Florida with my parents after being deported from Scotland. Here’s how you can help!

Thankfully, I am allowed back to Scotland, but I have to come back on a different visa. A different, very expensive visa. There are a few options that I am looking at both to live in Scotland long-term and to try to get back in time for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August 2026. This is the goal, first and foremost, as the folk duo I’m a part of, Some Strange Harmony, has a Fringe show called “Another Summer” August 5th-30th. Check us out on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival website! Is this the wrong time for marketing? 

Another Summer - Some Strange Harmony | Edinburgh Fringe 2026 Trailer

Our Fringe show is actually quite spookily resonant with my current situation as our concept deals a lot with the Law (by means of Kafka’s ‘Before the Law’ parable) and how structures are intentionally or unintentionally rebelled against in the hero’s journey of integration and self-realization. Life imitates art, eh?

If not for Edinburgh Fringe, at the very least, I would like to come back ASAP. I have built a beautiful life in Scotland over the last 6 years I visited:

Full of friendship.

Folk music. (Original & Traditional)

Fox-looking Dog Motherhood.

& Lots of Frolicking!

You know, similar to that show Outlander, but less s*x and time travel. 

I digress. 

Where was I? 

Ah yes, the deportation. 

Seemingly overnight, that whole life was ripped away from me. To say my heart broke would be an understatement. I felt as if a part of me died in that detention center. Not only was I taken away from my friends, a dog I consider my own, and all of my instruments, clothes and personal items, I have also been separated from the Edinburgh folk music community and three music projects I am part of:  (@some_strange_harmony, @peaksvalleysband, @oceanterminalband), two of which that cannot perform until I return. I like to think these music projects not only enrich the pre-established traditional Scottish folk scene, but also innovate and expand upon its roots with my contribution of new original music and compositions inspired by my time in Scotland.

I accept full responsibility and accountability for misunderstanding the limitations of the visa I was using to come and go from Scotland and simultaneously look to pave a new way forward with a more secure visa to stay longer term in Scotland.

The plan at the moment is two-fold: 

1) Short Term: Get Back to Scotland in Time for Fringe

and/or

2) Long Term: Get A Visa To Live & Work in Scotland Longer Term

I will list the types of visas below that I am currently considering, so that you can see where this money would be going, in addition to other fees, such as airfare. Unfortunately, a lot of this decision-making boils down to finances, and I will not know which visa(s) are going to be possible until I see how much money I can raise through the kindness of my friends, family, possible strangers, and my own income. This deportation has happened at a time where I was already struggling financially as I have recently gone through a bankruptcy in January of this year and am currently, for the most part, unemployed besides the occasional acting or video editing one-off freelance employment. So anything you can offer at this time would be greatly appreciated and used to fund, what can only be considered, my celtic rebirth of sorts.

Here are the visas being considered:

SHORT TERM

Temporary Creative Worker Visa - Anywhere from 1-24 months depending on length of sponsorship and employment

Fees: 

• Application fee: £340
• Money required to be in my bank account for 28 days before the application to prove I can support myself: £1,270
• Shipping Harmonium from UK to Florida so I can prepare for my show remotely: £150
• Roundtrip Flight from Fort Myers to Miami for Biometrics Package - £200-£600
• Roundtrip flight to Edinburgh from Fort Myers, Florida + Checked Baggage:  approx. £500-£1,500
• TOTAL: £3,860 / $5,178

LONG TERM

Global Talent Visa (Exceptional Promise) - 5 Years

Fees:

• Stage 1 (Endorsement): £561
• Stage 2 (Visa Application): £205
• Immigration Health Surcharge: £1,035 per year (total £5,175)
• Roundtrip Flight from Fort Myers to Miami for Biometrics Package - £200-£600
• Money required to be in my bank account for 28 days before the application to prove I can support myself: £1,270
• Roundtrip flight to Edinburgh from Fort Myers, Florida: approx. £500-£1,500
• TOTAL: £9,311 / $12,491

Thank you and stay out of the naughty box, y’all.

- Kelly

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 16th July 2026 at 11:00am CDT