At this year's South by Southwest Music Festival, more than one in five bands will be from another country.

Of 1,350 total acts, an unprecedented 294 international bands are slated to play the sprawling festival today through Sunday. Eighty-eight hail from the United Kingdom and nearly 70 from Canada. Twenty are making their way here from Japan. Nine are coming from Sweden, five from the Netherlands, two from Germany. France, which has shied away from SXSW in recent years, is sending a record 11 groups.

And — though everyone is keeping fingers crossed that it will actually arrive — the avant-garde rock band 127 is coming from Iran.

International artists bring a wide variety of sounds, moods and hype to the festival, from the latest British buzz bands to African hip-hop to Japanese noise acts and Australian songwriters.

Why so many international acts, a 30 percent jump from 2004, when the post-9/11 visa hurdles can be exhausting?

"The easy answer is the dollar," said Matthew Covey, managing director of the New York-based Tamizdat, a nonprofit company that helps international acts obtain visas. "The cost is a fraction of what it was four or five years ago."

A British pound bought $1.91 U.S. on Tuesday, compared with $1.80 a year ago; a Euro bought $1.33 on Tuesday; a year ago it was at $1.22.

Covey estimates a nearly 40 percent drop in across-the-board expenses for European bands.

"Frankly, we would have come here even if we would have had to build a canoe and paddle the Atlantic," said Simon Bradshaw, singer/songwriter for the up-and-coming U.K. band Marlowe. "The weakness of the dollar has certainly been helpful in certain areas." SXSW hasn't analyzed the relationship between the dollar and the participation of international acts.

"Some people have said, 'Yes, it's more affordable,' " SXSW music director Brent Grulke said, "but that's all anecdotal.

"Some of this reflects the ongoing relationships with folks abroad," he said, citing long-term SXSW showcases by Japanese and Australian bands. For example, appearances at the festival significantly raised the profiles of U.K. bands such as hard-rock act the Darkness and neo-new wave band Franz Ferdinand.

Countries with active culture ministries — or governments that recognize popular music as an export industry — often share some of the financial burden. For example, there's a hefty Australian contingent this year supported by $100,000 over three years from the Australian Trade Commission. For a festival such as SXSW, the money goes to defray airfare, hotel and visa costs. (The basic visa filing and interview fees for a four-person band with one roadie come to $1,070. Another $2,000 is required for premium processing, which many international bands require for quick turnaround.)

French bands are also in vogue with their government. "There was a big push from the French Music Office to bring all these bands," said Michele Amar-Ouimet, the office's associate director.

Bands may have the money but not always the paperwork. To get here, musicians must overcome not just the cost, but considerable time and angst dealing with U.S. immigration. Every band must obtain a working musician's visa.

"I found it very difficult, indeed," Bradshaw said. "(We have) had no previous experience with playing in the U.S. and, as we are from a small label, the band has been doing all the organizing ourselves.

"Completing all the necessary forms for the embassy, plus correct size photos, pre-payment of fees, etc., was a bit of a nightmare. I just arrived home after queuing for five hours at the United States Embassy in London. I'm very cold and very grumpy.

"But getting the work permit wasn't too bad," Bradshaw adds. "We got that through Tamizdat."

Visa quagmire

Once dedicated to aiding European indie musicians, Tamizdat has, since 1997, expanded its mandate to aiding bands from all over the world. Obtaining artists' visas is a subtle, expensive and time-consuming process. The visa process is one part regulatory hoop-jumping, one part finesse and one large part cold, hard cash.

"When a band works with us, I first collect basic passport information," Covey said. Then he must prove the band is made of "musicians of international talent."

This means putting together a dossier with press clips, letters of support from the label and testimonials from quasi-governmental arts bodies.

"You can be new and all the rage," Covey said. "But if you've only been around for six months, a substantial reputation established over time is a hard thing to prove."

The filing, union and processing fees can quickly reach into the thousands of dollars, and that's before Tamizdat's fee. After this dossier is assembled, it's submitted to the Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services (essentially the new name for the Immigration and Naturalization Service).

"My sense is that each petition is very, very carefully gone over," Covey said. "They read all the biographies, all the press information. I've gotten questions like, 'It appears to me you say the drummer is this person and this story says it's this person. Please account for the discrepancy.' "

Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Bill Strassberger said the primary concern is making sure that everyone in a foreign group goes home when the performances are over.

"When we look at approving the petition," he said, "we want to make sure that it's a legitimate group, and everyone who claims to be part of the group is actually part of it. We don't want people coming with a band's crew, claiming to help with a performance and then disappearing after the visa's expired."

How long does this approval process take? Covey laughed: "Anywhere from five days to five months."

American musicians heading overseas face far fewer hurdles, he said. "The visa requirements are far more lenient," he said, though he adds there is anecdotal evidence that the International Music Managers Forum, a union of sorts for music managers, has wanted to pressure the European Union to set up restrictions there similar to those in the United States.

After the petition is accepted on this end, band members go to the U.S. embassy in their home countries. There, they complete more forms, an interview and fingerprinting. This is the part rockers don't much like.

Matt Pong, 25, plays drums for Bloc Party, one of SXSW's hottest U.K. acts this year. "I got up really early in the morning for my interview," he said. "You can't really (mess) around with these people. Making jokes doesn't come off too well."

The artist's visa process has become more strict since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States but Covey says it has also become more formalized, and this has its advantages.

"U.S. immigration gets a lot of bad press, but since 9/11, the process has become much more systematic," Covey said. "On the one hand, the rules have become more strict and there's much less room for error. On the other, as the rules are more strictly enforced, in some ways the ambiguity has been removed."

Not everyone agrees. "What would be a minor conviction for an environmental protest arrest is regarded now as a terrorist act," says Phil Tripp, Australian representative for SXSW. "Other minor convictions can delay or deny access."

Covey says he's never encountered a visa that's been held up for legal issues but adds that Tamizdat doesn't deal with acts with serious legal issues.

"One reason that Tamizdat is able to keep its fees (approximately $500) low is that we don't keep a lawyer on staff," Covey said. "When someone comes to us with a criminal conviction, we say, 'You're better off going to an immigration lawyer.' I know such situations exist; I just haven't dealt with them."

A prize from Iran

The artist Covey is most proud of processing is 127, an experimental rock band from Iran. Before reformist President Mohammad Khatami came to power in 1997, the Iranian government allowed only traditional music to be performed. Restrictions have been eased, but 127 has played only four times in its four years, every time at Tehran Art University.

Covey wrote an impassioned letter on the band's behalf, thinking privately that 127 had little chance. "I essentially said: 'Before you reject this out of hand, know that to refuse them is sending entirely the wrong message to the youth of Iran, and if you approve them it's a very positive thing on both sides.' "

Perhaps miraculously, 127 was approved on the first pass, no questions asked.

"We have never played outside Iran, and this (hopefully) is going to be our first time," wrote 127 member Sohrab Mohebbi. He e-mailed on March 9 from Dubai, where the band went to get visas. There is no U.S. consulate in Iran. "Just entering the U.S. consulate's door in Dubai was a big odyssey."

With luck, the band will play at 9 p.m. Saturday at Tambaleo.

Austin will take full advantage of the international presence during SXSW. Thursday, the Texas Music Office and SXSW will host a private breakfast at the Texas Governor's Mansion to welcome the international trade representatives. Also Thursday, the French consul general of Houston will host a private cocktail reception to kick off the record participation of French bands at SXSW.

Plans for parties and showcases abound: The Japanese contingent has two Japan Nite showcases plus late-afternoon parties Thursday at Brush Square Park and Friday at Caribbean Lights. Irish governmental trade organization Music From Ireland plans a St. Patrick's Day boat ride on Town Lake for Irish delegates, bands and invited guests. The Nordic Stand and Nordic Nights showcases are a collaborative effort by the five participating Scandinavian countries: Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The French Music Office will present two nights of French music of varying genres. Of course, with the dollar so weak and hundreds of foreign musicians in Austin, shopping is also a big part of SXSW.

"Maybe we can get some classic, old American guitars," said Per Steinar Lie of the Norwegian band Low Frequency in Stereo. "And we are looking for American Western shirts. They are very expensive in Norway."