NBA Lockout Still Having Immigration Effects

An O or P petition cannot be filed where a DOL-certified strike or lockout condition exists. As we discussed earlier, O and P nonimmigrants already in the US during a strike or lockout have some interim benefits, but rookies and veterans filing new petitions may not file until the work stoppage is over.

Now that the NBA lockout is over, players are once again able to file O and P petitions. However, the abrupt nature in which the lockout ended has caught some players off guard. For instance, rookie guard Cory Joseph has had his start with San Antonio Spurs delayed.

In a normal NBA season Joseph, a Canadian, would have applied to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service for a U.S. work visa after the Spurs drafted him in June, with the expectation he would be signed to a contract during the summer. That expectation ended when the NBA locked out its players on July 1, meaning Joseph couldn’t apply for the visa until the lockout was lifted.