How we help our clients:
U.S. Immigration has two main categories: permanent residence visas (also called “immigrant visas” or “green cards”) and temporary residence visas (also called “nonimmigrant visas”).
For athletes, coaches and artists, the EB-1 category for aliens with extraordinary ability and the EB-2 and EB-3 categories for workers who are sponsored by an employer are categories most often used to qualify for a green card. For the EB-2 and EB-3 categories, the employer usually must first complete a process called PERM Labor Certification in which the employer proves that it cannot find a qualified and available U.S. worker to perform the job that it would like to offer to the foreign-born worker.
The most common temporary visas for athletes, coaches and artists are as follows:
- O-1 Visas for Aliens with Extraordinary Ability who are seeking temporary employment. This visa is issued for up to three years and can be renewed in one-year increments. This visa requires an employer or an agent in the U.S. to file the visa petition. The employer or agent must show that the athlete, coach or artists has extraordinary qualifications in his or her field of endeavor. The standard for artists is less difficult than the standard for athletes and coaches.
- P-1 Visas for Internationally Recognized Athletes, Teams, or Entertainment Groups (or professional athletes) who are seeking to compete or perform in the U.S. This visa can be issued for up to five years and can be renewed for up to five more years. This visa requires an employer, agent or sponsor in the U.S. to file the visa petition. The petition must show that the foreign-born athlete, team or entertainment group is internationally recognized and that foreign-born visa applicant is entering the U.S. to perform services which require and internationally recognized level of performance
Other P Visas:
- P-1 visas under the Compete Act for an athlete or coach, as part of a team or franchise that is located in the United States and a member of a foreign league or association of 15 or more amateur sports teams, if - the foreign league or association is the highest level of amateur performance of that sport in the relevant foreign country; participation in such league or association renders players ineligible, whether on a temporary or permanent basis, to earn a scholarship in, or participate in, that sport at a college or university in the United States under the rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association; and a significant number of the individuals who play in such league or association are drafted by a major sports league or a minor league affiliate of such a sports league
- P-1 visas for professional or amateur athlete coming temporarily to the U.S. to perform in a specific theatrical ice-skating production, individually or as part of a group.
- A P-1B petition is authorized for an alien to be able to perform with, or serve as an integral and essential part of the performance of, an entertainment group that has been recognized internationally as being outstanding in the discipline for a sustained and substantial period of time. Such alien ordinarily must have had a sustained and substantial relationship with the group for at least one year, providing functions integral to the performance of the group.
- P-2 visas for artists or entertainers, individually or as a group, or their essential support personnel, who will be performing under a reciprocal exchange program which is between at least one organization in the United States (including management organizations) and at least one organization in one or more foreign states which provides for the temporary exchange of artists and entertainers.
- P-3 Classification is for artists or entertainers, individually or as a group, or their essential support personnel, who wish to come to the United States for the purpose of developing, interpreting, representing, coaching, or teaching a unique or traditional ethnic, folk, cultural, musical, theatrical or artistic performance or presentation.
Q-1 Visas for Participants in International Cultural Exchange Programs. This is a work visa valid for up to 15 months. The foreign-born worker must participate in a program that has a cultural component which is an essential and integral part of the participant’s employment or training. The program must be designed, on the whole, to exhibit or explain the attitude, customs, history, heritage, philosophy, traditions, and/or other cultural attributes (arts, literature, language) of the foreign worker’s country of nationality.
Jaensch Immigration Law Firm is experienced in all of these green card and temporary visas.
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