The Afro-Cuban All Stars band is the latest casualty. The popular offshoot of the Buena Vista Social Club had to postpone its November dates in San Francisco and Berkeley. Googoosh, the Persian diva who was to have performed at the Oakland Coliseum Arena a few weeks ago, is also being rescheduled. Abbas Kiarostami, the Iranian filmmaker considered one of the world's greatest living directors, could not attend the New York Film Festival last month for the opening of his latest movie.

These performers and artists and many others have been unable to obtain visas to enter the United States because of the strict new rules under the Homeland Security Act that require a 90-day background check. The visa requirements have created a huge back-up in the approval process and resulted in the cancellation of concerts and the loss of millions of dollars in bookings.

Cancellation of the Googoosh concerts in Los Angeles and Oakland probably will amount to $1,400,000, according to Susan Abkarpour, publisher of SiliconIran magazine. The promoters hope to reschedule the sold-out Los Angeles concert for Oct. 26, when they hope she and her musicians can enter the U.S. But they have yet to find a Bay Area venue for a rescheduled show.

Cuba and Iran, whose artists and performers have been especially affected, are on a list of seven nations considered "state sponsors of terrorism." Others are Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and North Korea.

Many of the Cuban bands affected have performed in this country many times, as the interest and appetite for Cuban music has burgeoned in the last decade. Among the artists denied entry since the spring are Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanes and Los Van Van, who were scheduled to play the San Francisco Jazz Festival on Nov. 8 and 9.

But performers from countries not on the "state sponsors of terrorism" list - such as a Russian pianist, a Welsh harpist - who were to have performed here this summer have also been unable to obtain visas on time.

Hanayui, an all-female Japanese folk singing and dance ensemble, could not perform with the San Jose Taiko in Los Angeles in early october, even after San Jose Taiko paid $1,000 to expedite the visa process, according to the group's spokesman, Roy Hirabayashi. (Since the Homeland Security Act was passed, the Immigration and Naturalization Service now offers arts groups and cultural exchange programs help to expedite visas, for a fee.)

"You can expect more hassles," said Jonathan Ginsburg, a Washington, D.C., immigration lawyer. "It's not that people won't get the visa, but it's under the rubric of additional administrative processing that the delays occur." He says the back-up is not at the consulates who issue the visas but caused by lengthy FBI and CIA investigations.

The pain at the box office is keenly felt. "The government didn't take into consideration how many businesses would be affected by this," said Hollis Ashby of Cal Performances, which has rescheduled the Afro-Cuban All Stars for May 3-4, 2003.

Villa Montalvo rescheduled their All Stars concert for May 2, 2003. "I had the same problem with Jesse Winchester, who's a Canadian, and other Canadian acts," said Bruce Labadie, Montalvo's performing acts director. "It now takes three months for foreign groups to get visas, so we have to plan further ahead."

"I'm baffled and discouraged," said Maria Matias, booking agent at Monterey Peninsula Artists, which books many Cuban groups.

The Pablo Milanes and Los Van Van tour would be "impossible to duplicate," said Matias, who adds that she's now "gun-shy about booking Cuban groups."

La Pena in Berkeley has been bringing Cuban groups for many years. "We've had problems in the past, but now it's trickier than ever to bring in Cuban bands," said executive director Paul Chin. Two Cuban acts, Valle Son and Milanes, have been canceled in November.

"Now we have a disclaimer which advises people to call first to see if the groups have gotten their visas. The war on terrorism is having a negative effect on music and culture. It's turned into a McCarthy-like period in the silencing of expression and music."

Some promoters and presenters are fighting back. Bill Martinez, a San Francisco lawyer who has brought many Cuban groups; Isabel Soffer, associate director of the World Music Institute, a leading traditional music and dance producer in New York City; Phyllis Barney, executive director of the Folk Alliance, a nonprofit service organization in Maryland for folk arts presenters; and Alison Loerke, a Seattle-based agent for world music acts, have started a campaign to raise public awareness of the bureaucratic logjams that are preventing or calling into question many scheduled performances.

They are being joined by Mickey Hart, currently touring with his World Music Band Bembe Orisha, which features a Cuban and Iranian lead singer. "Music doesn't kill. Musicians aren't terrorists; they're the antidotes for hate and misunderstanding," said Hart.

The coalition wants to propose new regulations granting special consideration for foreign artists who have proven track records of touring without incident in the United States.

"Kiarostami has been here seven times and is the best-known Iranian director, so to start questioning his background is a little backward," Soffer said. "I think having a separate category for artists is a practical step."

State Department spokesman Stuart Patt disagrees. "We're trying to figure out how to do this as efficiently as possible and meet national security needs. It inconveniences concert promoters, but this is a decision made by the Congress, which we are enforcing, that doesn't draw distinction between artists or any other category."

Meanwhile, ticket holders for Googoosh concerts were still holding out hope to see their idol. Abkarpour, 35, who was born in Iran and grew up idolizing Googoosh even though the singer was forbidden for 21 years, was hoping to see her perform for the first time ever. "I know all her songs," she said. "She reminds us of our homeland, and to have her turned away is very painful for Iranians."