The P-1A visa for esports players: what a US petition requires

Some of the big esports events of a season are played in the United States, and many of the players who reach them live somewhere else. A roster from Korea, Brazil or Europe that qualifies for a final in an American arena has to cross a border first, and the question of whether its players may compete there is not settled by the bracket. It is settled by United States immigration law, through a petition decided before the player travels.

The classification written for that situation is called P-1A. It is described by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, known as USCIS, the federal agency that decides petitions for temporary workers, on its page for the P-1A athlete, which the agency marks as last reviewed and updated on March 26, 2021. Two texts of the agency add detail: its Policy Manual, the guidance its officers apply, and a Policy Alert of the same date on the athletes' side of the classification.

This guide sets out what those texts require of a petition for players: the purpose of the classification, the routes into it, what international recognition means, the level the event itself must have, who files and what every petition contains, the evidence for recognized athletes and teams, the question of what counts as a major league, the professional athlete route, the length of a stay and the rule on trades, and the position of families. The agency's texts speak of sports and athletes and never mention esports. What follows is the general rule as USCIS states it; where its application to a player, a team or an event depends on the case, the guide says so.

USCIS, P-1A Athlete page, last reviewed and updated March 26, 2021: evidence for internationally recognized athletes and teams, and period of stay.

What the P-1A classification is for

P-1A is a nonimmigrant classification, which means it allows a temporary stay for a set purpose rather than a permanent move. USCIS describes it as the classification for athletes who come to the United States temporarily to perform at a specific athletic competition, as individuals or as part of a group or team, at an internationally recognized level of performance.

Two words in that description carry most of the weight. The first is specific: the classification is tied to an identified competition, with dates, not to a general wish to work or train in the country. The second is internationally recognized: the athlete or the team must be known beyond one country, and the competition must be one that calls for that level.

The classification is a petition-based one. The player does not apply for it alone at a consulate. A party in the United States first files a petition with USCIS, and only after the petition is approved can the player apply for the visa itself at a U.S. embassy or consulate. The petition is where the evidence described in this guide is submitted and judged.

The page is written for athletes in general. Its examples are drawn from traditional sport, and its vocabulary is that of leagues, seasons, governing bodies and national teams. Competitive gaming fits into it, where it fits, through that general wording.

Five routes into P-1A

USCIS does not describe one P-1A category but several, each with its own conditions. An athlete enters the classification through one of them, and the evidence required follows the route chosen.

The last two routes are narrow. The amateur route covers athletes and coaches of a team located in the United States that belongs to a foreign league or association, and that league must meet four conditions: it has 15 or more amateur teams, it is the highest level of amateur performance of the sport in its country, taking part in it makes players ineligible under the rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for a college scholarship or for college play, and a significant number of its players are drafted by a major sports league or a minor league affiliate. The ice skating route concerns theatrical shows and tours.

For players who travel to a tournament, the questions usually turn on the first three routes. The rest of this guide concentrates on them.

What international recognition means

Recognition is the heart of the two most general routes. USCIS defines internationally recognized as a high level of achievement in a sport, shown by a degree of skill and recognition substantially above what is ordinarily encountered. The achievement must be renowned, leading or well known in more than one country.

The test applies differently to a person and to a team. For an individual, it is the athlete's own record that must meet it. For a team, the agency asks that the team as a unit has achieved international recognition in the sport: a roster made up of recognized players is not, by that fact alone, a recognized team.

The Policy Manual adds a point on how the two relate. Its chapter on P-1 eligibility, which the agency marks as current as of March 31, 2023, notes that internationally recognized individuals may come to join a team based in the United States. It also notes that members of a foreign team that is itself internationally recognized may be classified through their relationship with that team, and that they may not then perform services separate from the team.

The practical consequence is that the route chosen shapes the whole petition. A player whose recognition is personal and a player whose recognition comes through a team are documented in different ways, and the petition has to show the kind of recognition its route requires.

The event must match the athlete

Recognition of the athlete is only half of the test. The competition itself must have a distinguished reputation and be at an internationally recognized level of performance. The Policy Manual describes such an event as one that requires internationally recognized participants, or that keeps its reputation through the participation of some of them.

The same chapter gives the factors USCIS may weigh in judging an event:

• viewership, attendance, revenue and major media coverage of the event;
• past participation by internationally recognized athletes or teams;
• the international rankings of the competitors;
• documented requirements of merit for participants.

It also names signs that point the other way. Participation by internationally recognized competitors that is unusual or uncommon counts against an event, and so does an event open to all skill levels, although the chapter says that openness is not necessarily decisive. When an event is divided into categories by skill, the agency looks at the specific category the athlete seeks to enter.

A petition answers two questions at once: whether the player is known beyond one country, and whether the event is one that needs players of that level.

For esports, the factor on events open to all skill levels bears on open qualifiers, the stages of a circuit that any team may enter. The Policy Manual does not mention esports or describe any esports event. Whether a given tournament, or a given stage of it, meets the agency's description is a question decided on the evidence filed with each petition.

Who files, and what every petition contains

The petition is filed on Form I-129, the form USCIS uses for petitions for nonimmigrant workers. The page names who files it: the athlete's U.S. employer, a U.S. agent or a sponsor, who submits the form with the appropriate fee and the supporting documents. The page gives no fee amount. The athlete is the beneficiary of the petition; the party that files is the petitioner.

Agents have a rule of their own. When a U.S. agent files for an athlete who works for several employers, the agent must establish that it is authorized to act as an agent for all of them.

Every P-1A petition, whatever its route, carries a common set of documents before the evidence specific to its route.

The consultation needs a word of explanation. A labor organization is a union or a similar body that represents workers in a field. USCIS asks for a written consultation from an appropriate one, describing the work or services in the United States and the athlete's qualifications for them. The organization may instead send a letter of no objection to the approval of the petition. If no appropriate labor organization exists, the requirement is excused. The page does not say which organization, if any, is appropriate for competitive gaming.

The explanation of the events is where the specific competition becomes concrete. It states what the events are and when they begin and end, and the itinerary shows where the athlete will be. That document is also what ties the length of the stay to the competition, as described below.

The evidence for recognized athletes and teams

For the two recognition routes, the page sets a precise list. The petition includes a copy of a tendered contract with a major United States sports league or team. In an individual sport, a contract commensurate with international recognition serves instead. Either contract is required where such contracts are normally executed in the sport.

On top of the contract, the petition must show at least two of the following seven types of evidence:

1. significant participation in a prior season with a major United States sports league;
2. participation in international competition with a national team;
3. significant participation in a prior season for a U.S. college or university in intercollegiate competition;
4. a written statement from an official of the governing body of the sport, explaining how the athlete or the team is internationally recognized;
5. a written statement from a member of the sports media or a recognized expert in the sport, explaining the same;
6. evidence that the athlete or the team is ranked, if the sport has international rankings;
7. evidence of a significant honor or award in the sport.

Several items assume structures that traditional sport has and competitive gaming has in its own form, or sometimes not at all. The page does not say which esports body counts as a governing body, which ranking counts as international, or whether a given league is a major United States sports league. Each of those is read on the evidence of the petition.

The phrase "at least two" sets a floor, not a target. A petition that documents two items meets the count; whether the documents themselves are convincing is judged on their content.

What counts as a major league

The phrase major United States sports league or team appears twice in that evidence list, in the contract and in the first item. USCIS gave its reading of the phrase in Policy Alert PA-2021-04, dated March 26, 2021, on additional guidance for P-1A internationally recognized athletes.

The alert reads a major United States sports league as one with a distinguished reputation that matches an internationally recognized level of performance, and a major United States sports team as one that plays in such a league. It ties that reading to the internationally recognized level of performance set in the statute, which it cites. The alert also gives further detail on judging whether an event has a distinguished reputation, the guidance now carried in the Policy Manual chapter described above.

The guidance took effect at once and applies to P-1A petitions filed on or after March 26, 2021. It updated two chapters of the Policy Manual, on eligibility and on documentation and evidence, and it replaces earlier guidance on the topic. The alert does not mention esports, video games or electronic sports.

What the alert changes is the nature of the question. A league is not major because of its sport or its age: it is major when its reputation matches the international level the classification is built around. Whether an esports league based in the United States meets that reading is not answered by the alert, and it is decided on the evidence.

The professional athlete route

The third route does not start from recognition. It covers a player employed by a team that belongs to an association of six or more professional sports teams whose combined revenues exceed US$10 million a year, where the association governs the conduct of its members and regulates their contests and exhibitions. A minor league team affiliated with such an association also qualifies.

The evidence follows those conditions point by point. The petition shows that the team belongs to an association of six or more professional teams, with documents such as league lists, membership letters, media coverage or promotional material. It shows that the association's combined team revenues exceed US$10 million a year, with documents such as tax records, audited financial statements or media reports. It shows that the association governs its members and regulates their contests, with rules and bylaws, reports of regulatory action or official statements. For a minor league team, it shows the qualifying affiliation.

The route is written around the employer and the league rather than the player's fame. Applied to competitive gaming, it raises its own questions: whether a league run by a publisher or an organizer is an association that governs its members in the sense of the page, and how combined revenues are documented. The page does not address esports, and those questions belong to each case.

How long a stay lasts, and changing teams

The period of stay follows the route. For an individual athlete, the initial period is the time needed to complete the event, competition or performance, up to five years. Extensions come in increments of up to five years to continue or complete it, and the total stay is limited to 10 years.

For an athletic group, the initial period is the time needed to complete the event, up to one year, and extensions come in increments of up to one year. The extension of a stay is requested by the petitioner on Form I-129.

The link with the competition runs through both cases. The initial stay is not a fixed term chosen by the petitioner; it is the time the event requires, within the ceiling. That is why the explanation of the events and the itinerary carry weight in the petition.

A change of employer has its own rules. When a professional athlete is traded from one organization to another, the athlete's authorization to work continues automatically for 30 days after the new organization acquires the athlete. Within those 30 days, the new organization must file a new Form I-129. If it does not, or if the petition is denied, the authorization to work ends. In other cases, the new employer, agent or sponsor must file a new Form I-129, and the athlete may not start working for the new employer until USCIS approves it.

The trade rule is written for professional athletes. Whether a transfer between esports organizations, with a buyout paid to release a player from a contract, is a trade in the sense of the page is not stated there, and it depends on the case.

The people around the players, and families

A player rarely travels alone. Coaches, interpreters and other staff who support a P-1 athlete or team have their own classification, P-1S, for essential support personnel, filed on a separate Form I-129 with its own evidence. Their initial stay is the time needed for the event, up to one year.

Families have a classification too. The spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 of a P-1 holder may obtain P-4 status. Family members in P-4 status may not work in the United States, but they may attend school or college. A family already in the country applies on Form I-539, with the fee.

Because P-4 status follows the P-1 holder, its length follows theirs as well. A family's stay rests on the same periods and extensions as the player's.

Where it depends on the case

The USCIS texts are written for sport, and competitive gaming meets them through their general wording. Several points remain open for each petition, and the agency's texts do not settle them for esports.

The first is the choice of route: individual recognition, team recognition or the professional athlete route, each with its own evidence. The second is the event, judged on the factors the Policy Manual lists, from media coverage to the merit required of participants. The third is the evidence itself: which body is a governing body, which ranking is international and which league is major in the sense of the Policy Alert. The fourth is the labor consultation, and whether an appropriate organization exists for the field.

The page also lists the USCIS Policy Manual among its related resources, where the guidance its officers apply is set out in more detail. Each petition is decided by USCIS on the evidence filed with it, and each visa is then applied for at an embassy or consulate, after the petition is approved.

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