Australian officials are considering a visa application from rapper Eminem, amid growing pressure to ban him from touring the country later this month.
Concert tickets have already gone on sale but Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said Australia was still considering whether to grant the visa, and noted that Eminem had a history of gun-related charges.
Politicians and a family lobby group have urged the government to bar the singer.
Prime Minister John Howard has said the visa decision is not his to make but has labelled the Grammy award-winner's lyrics as "sickening and offensive".
