Hello, and welcome to our July Sports, Arts & Entertainment newsletter.  This month, we'll be taking a closer look at the O-1 and P-1 visas, setting your case strategy, and tips in getting organized for providing the required evidence.

For those of you who are not familiar with Immigration Compliance Group....

We provide US and global immigration services and solutions to the arts, entertainment and sports industries, amongst others.  Our staff is accustomed to dealing with celebrated personalities and brands and we have successfully obtained visas for actors, directors, athletes, coaches, sports broadcasters and other individuals of accomplishment and renown.

Our staff members understand the unique needs associated with working with celebrities and high profile personalities, and we maintain distinct focus on building a bridge between the needs of our clients and their global business opportunities.  We also have an active employer compliance practice to assist our clients with developing policies an procedures that are compliant with current laws and regulations pertaining to I-9 Employment Eligibility Audits, Training, H-1B compliance and mergers and acquisitions and how they affect foreign national employees.

If you'd like to consult with us or become a client of our office, please contact us at info@immigrationcompliancegroup.com or call 562 612.3996.

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O-1 Visas for Talented People in the Arts, Business, Science,

Athletics and Education

What is an O-1 Visa?

O-1 Visas are for people of outstanding accomplishment in their field.  This would include film & TV, crew members, writers, directors, visual artists, lighting and set designers, costume designers, actors, dancers, performers, musicians, those in the martial arts and culinary arts, athletes, coaches, and high profile individuals in business, the sciences and academia.

An O-1 visa holder doesn't need to be an international prize winner, but must have a distinctive and prominent career in any profession that can be documented with press, testimonial letters, awards and distinctions, credits, and affiliations with prestigious productions and organizations.

More recently, we have successfully received O-1 approvals for:

Skeet Shooter:  Gold Medalist/Coach

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Coach

Tennis Coach

Soccer Coach

Visual Artist

Graphic Arts Designer

Creative Director

Creative Advertising Executive

Jazz Music Promoter & Producer

Musician/Composer/Record Producer

Lead Character TD/Animation

Visual Development Artist

Directing Animator

Photographer

Lighting Designer

Venture Capital Partner/Silicon Valley

CEO/Chairman of the Board

Some tips in getting organized for your O-1 Visa ...

1)  Work with a firm that has a track record of success in obtaining O-1 visas for their clients.

2)  Make sure that a strategy for your case is established and is appropriate for your field and the type of evidence that you can produce in support of your case.

3)  Have a detailed and thorough Curriculum Vitae or Resume that highlights your education, awards and achievements, publicity and media about you or your work and a chronology of your work background.  For those in the sciences or academia, make sure that you include your scholarly articles, abstracts, conference or symposia presentations, peer-reviewed articles, and a citations list.

4)  Keep a file on all things that evidence your professional recognition, such as: 

    .  Articles about you or your work

    .  Interviews

    .  Critical Reviews of your work

    .  Prizes, press, publications by you or about you or your work

    .  Programs from performances, panels, conferences, exhibitions

Organizing this information in chronological order is advisable with the date and name of the news source.  Foreign press will need to be accompanied by an English translation referencing the date, name of the publication, title of the article and an excerpt overview translation of the article

5)  Identify experts, leaders and peers in your field who can write letters of endorsement on your behalf based upon their knowledge of you through professional channels.  These can be letters written by professionals who attended a performance you gave, represented you as a manager or agent, were impressed with a talk you gave, purchased a product you developed, etc.

In summary, remember that if you already have an O-1 visa and you'd like to go for the green-card, the legal standard for an EB-1 green-card (permanent residency) is higher, no matter the occupation.  This is why it's important to keep adding to your evidence of professional recognition and reaching out to higher levels of achievement in your field.

If you'd like to discuss your O-1 or EB-1 cases with us in the fields of arts & entertainment, business, science, education and athletics, we are available to assist you with a highly skilled and knowledgeable staff of legal professionals and case managers that have specialized in this work for many years.

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The Importance of having a Strategy for your O-1 and P Visas to the USA

The importance of having a strategy and planning ahead for visas to the USA cannot be stressed enough - we just simply have a more complex system and it takes more effort and preparation than other countries with more user friendly immigration systems.  Most importantly, we can't say enough about working with a skilled professional who can navigate the process for you.

Here's an example:  Under the Bush Administration, Cuban nationals were not granted US visas.  This article cites unfortunate timing issues that prevented the Cuban group Buena Vista Social Club from entering the USA in time for their 3 scheduled concerts. 

Plan ahead as best you can and work with providers who will go the extra mile on your behalf to make it happen.

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P Visas for Athletes

The P-1 visa category is the visa of choice for athletes and entertainers who do not meet the "extraordinary ability" standard required for an O visa.  In practice, P visas are most often used for athletes and entertainers who perform as part of a team or entertainment group for trips of limited duration, such as a concert tour or a sports season.  Because the P-1 visa is employer-specific, P-1 athletes and entertainers who are members of a team or group may not perform work or services separate and apart from the team or entertainment group during their P-1 time.

There are two ways for an athletic team or entertainment group to obtain P-1 status for its members. 

    .  First, P-1 visas may be granted to an athletic team or entertainment group based on its own

       international    reputation.  When the visa is granted to the team or group, as a whole, each member of

       the team or group is given P-1 classification based on the reputation of the team or group.

    .  Second, a team or group may seek P-1 visas for individual members of the team or group based on their

       individual, international reputations.

It is important to note that an athletic team or entertainment group that employs a P-1 alien must be "internationally recognized," which the USCIS defines as "having a high level of achievement in a field evidenced by a degree of skill and recognition substantially above that ordinarily encountered, to the extent that such achievement is renowned, leading or well-known in more than one country."

A clear advantage of the P-1 category is the wide variety of athletes who may qualify under its provisions.  The P-1 category encompasses all athletes who perform at an internationally recognized level of performance and who fall into one of four sub-categories:

    1)  Individual athletes

    2)  Athletes who are members of certain professional leagues

    3)  Athletes and coaches who participate in certain amateur leagues

    4)  Athletes who participate in theatrical ice skating productions

A P-1 athlete must be coming to the USA to participate in an athletic competition that has a distinguished reputation and that requires participation of an athlete or athletic team that has an international reputation.

Also, if you're from one of the Visa Waiver countries (VWP) you are permitted to travel to the USA for 90 days without a visa.  For more information on this, we link here.

Note:  If you're an athlete traveling to the USA to compete in a tournament or a sporting event for no salary or payment other than prize money, and the sports team has their principal place of activity in a foreign country, with income of the team and the salaries of the athletes accrued in a foreign country, the B-1 visa will be an option for you.

Should you require assistance with a visa application at a US Consulate or have questions pertaining to visa waiver travel, please contact our office.

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  News Bytes ......................

• Judge Blocks Arizona Law:  A federal judge today blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona's immigration law from taking effect, delivering a last-minute victory to opponents of the crackdown.  The judge also put on hold parts of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places.  We link here.
• US Reversal on Visa Denied to Colombian Journalist
• Sports Teams and Celebrities Among those Facing Visa Refusals
• Iroquois Lacrosse TeamDenied UK Visas
• James Cameron's Offer to help with BP Oil Spill Turned Down
• NYU Music Technology Program
• Thinking of Applying for US Citizenship? - New Brochure