Sunday, December 10, 2006
SUMMARY OF NEW P-1 STATUTE FOR ATHLETES AND ICE PERFORMERS
In the final hours of the 109th Congress, the House passed S.3821, a bill concerning H-2B and P-1 athletes and entertainers that passed in the Senate a day before. The President is expected to sign the legislation in the coming days and the provisions will take effect immediately. The bill tracks language included in S.2611, the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the US Senate last May.
The legislation expands the P-1 visa category to include several new types of athletes and entertainers:
• An individual athlete on an athletic team that is a member of an association of 6 or more professional sports teams whose total combined revenues exceed $10,000,000 per year, if the association governs the conduct of its members and regulates the contests and exhibitions in which its member teams regularly engage or any minor league team that is affiliated with such an association (these are individuals described in Section 204(i)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act).
• Individual coaches and athletes performing with teams in the US that are part of an international league or association of fifteen or more amateur sports teams if 1) the league is operating at the “highest level of amateur performance” in the relevant foreign country, 2) participating in that league renders the players ineligible to get a scholarship to play at a collegiate level in the US and 3) a significant number of the players in the league get drafted to play for major or minor league teams in the US.
• Amateur and professional ice skaters who perform in theatrical ice skating productions seeking to enter the US to skate in a competition or a theatrical production.
Significantly, none of these new categories require a demonstration of performing at an “internationally recognized level of performance” as is the case for P-1 athletes under the current law or as “outstanding” athletes as required under the O-1 rules.
Minor league teams will benefit most significantly since they will no longer need to rely on the H-2B category for its athletes. Coaches are not mentioned in the new provisions but presumably can qualify as P support personnel if there is a principle P applicant. The H-2B category has been problematic in recent years because the category has quickly filled its allotted quota.
Another major change is the fact that major league athletes will likely be able to enter the US under the new provisions for teams in leagues exceeding $10,000,000 in annual combined revenue. Simply documenting a contract to play on a qualifying team should be enough without having to show the athlete is performing at an internationally recognized level of performance as is the case today.
The statute contains language excluding athletes from countries deemed state sponsors of terrorism. That provision will mainly affect Cuban athletes. These athletes can still apply for P-1s under the new provisions, but need to get special clearance from the Department of Homeland Security and State Department.
The new language will now allow for multiple athletes and performers to be filed on a single I-129 petition instead of separate petitions.
Finally, athletes can still file in other visa categories even if they are eligible under the new P-1 provisions.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 3:52 PM
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The legislation expands the P-1 visa category to include several new types of athletes and entertainers:
• An individual athlete on an athletic team that is a member of an association of 6 or more professional sports teams whose total combined revenues exceed $10,000,000 per year, if the association governs the conduct of its members and regulates the contests and exhibitions in which its member teams regularly engage or any minor league team that is affiliated with such an association (these are individuals described in Section 204(i)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act).
• Individual coaches and athletes performing with teams in the US that are part of an international league or association of fifteen or more amateur sports teams if 1) the league is operating at the “highest level of amateur performance” in the relevant foreign country, 2) participating in that league renders the players ineligible to get a scholarship to play at a collegiate level in the US and 3) a significant number of the players in the league get drafted to play for major or minor league teams in the US.
• Amateur and professional ice skaters who perform in theatrical ice skating productions seeking to enter the US to skate in a competition or a theatrical production.
Significantly, none of these new categories require a demonstration of performing at an “internationally recognized level of performance” as is the case for P-1 athletes under the current law or as “outstanding” athletes as required under the O-1 rules.
Minor league teams will benefit most significantly since they will no longer need to rely on the H-2B category for its athletes. Coaches are not mentioned in the new provisions but presumably can qualify as P support personnel if there is a principle P applicant. The H-2B category has been problematic in recent years because the category has quickly filled its allotted quota.
Another major change is the fact that major league athletes will likely be able to enter the US under the new provisions for teams in leagues exceeding $10,000,000 in annual combined revenue. Simply documenting a contract to play on a qualifying team should be enough without having to show the athlete is performing at an internationally recognized level of performance as is the case today.
The statute contains language excluding athletes from countries deemed state sponsors of terrorism. That provision will mainly affect Cuban athletes. These athletes can still apply for P-1s under the new provisions, but need to get special clearance from the Department of Homeland Security and State Department.
The new language will now allow for multiple athletes and performers to be filed on a single I-129 petition instead of separate petitions.
Finally, athletes can still file in other visa categories even if they are eligible under the new P-1 provisions.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 3:52 PM
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