The Australian government has granted a full visa to Snoop Dogg, allowing the Long Beach-based rapper to go ahead with his Australian tour.
The five-city “The West Coast Originals” arena tour also stars Ice Cube and Bone Thugs n Harmony and kicks off at Brisbane Entertainment Centre October 29.
Andrew McManus, Melbourne-based managing director of promoter Andrew McManus Presents said in a statement today (Sept. 12), “I’m pleased the Immigration Department has shown common sense and allowed Snoop’s tour to go ahead.”
McManus previously told Billboard.biz that Snoop Dogg had been, as per its policy, given provisional approval by the Department of Immigration. It was undertaking the next step, a full investigation into his character, when media reports claimed the visa had already been approved, and quoted crime victim groups demanding the government overturn the visa.
As a result, the Immigration Department decided on a more thorough character analysis before granting full approval.
Snoop Dogg visited Australia in 1998, 2006 and early 2007. He withdrew his application for a visa to Australia last year to co-host the MTV Australia awards in Sydney when he failed to pass the character requirements for a visa, after pleading no contest to gun and drug charges in the United States.
Actor Russell Crowe and high profile TV personality Eddie McGuire wrote letters to support the rapper’s visa application. Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, is also undertaking workshops in Sydney for indigenous youth to warn them against drugs and guns, and urge them to stay in school.
According to a statement from the Immigration Department, “Mr Broadus will need to abide by Australia’s laws and he will be formally counseled before his arrival about his visa conditions and our expectations relating to his conduct.”
