Recruiting Foreign Minor League Baseball Players

The number of foreign-born players in baseball's minor leagues has significantly increased according to the Wall Street Journal. While baseball has historically had strong representation at the major league level from various countries, in the past MLB teams had to develop their foreign talent at overseas training grounds in the Dominican Republic, Australia and elsewhere. Beginning in 2007, the "Creating Opportunities for Minor League Professionals, Entertainers and Teams Act" has changed the immigration landscape to allow for easier access to foreign talent at the minor league level. Specifically, the Act now allows minor league teams to recruit foreign players using the P-1 visa. Previously, minor league teams were restricted to use the H-2B visa, which has limited availability and is restricted to seasonal employment. In contrast, P-1 athletes can be employed in the United States for longer durations, and players affiliated with major league teams are all-but guaranteed the visa.

Recent changes in U.S. immigration law and growing competition in baseball for raw talent have allowed the minor-league farm system to flourish with imported players. It has been a home run for globalization, but bad news for U.S.-born players, who suddenly have much more competition. Across the minor and major leagues, the total number of foreign-born players is growing fast, to almost 3,500 of the 8,532 players under contract this summer, from 2,964 three years ago.

Many of the foreign players hail from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. As noted above, one consequence is that U.S.-born players will face greater competition in making it to the major league level.

Consular Processing: A Learning Experience for the Sacramento Kings' Draft Pick Omri Casspi

The Sacramento Bee reports on the experience of Omri Casspi, the 23rd pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, in acquiring a P-1 visa sponsored by his newest employer, the Sacramento Kings.

Obtaining a visa to play in the United States remains a major irritant for the non-Americans in the league. Most of the time the NBA teams turn their attorneys loose on the immigration matter. But as Omri Casspi is learning - as did Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic and Hedo Turkoglu back in the day - the process is not hassle-free. Multiple time-consuming meetings at the U.S. Embassy remain common. In Casspi's case, the Kings rookie appeared for a 7:30 a.m., appointment on Tuesday and was required to return again Wednesday to finalize the paperwork. He sounded relieved to have the matter resolved. "Done, over," he said afterward. "I'm ready to go."

Casspi, while obscure in the United States, is well known in his native Israel as he starred for the country's best basketball team (Maccabi Tel Aviv) prior to joining the Kings. Even star basketball players are not immune from the vagaries of the U.S. Department of State's visa procedures.

H-2 Visa Shortages Affect Ski Resorts

First Tracks Online Ski Magazine reports that high demand for the number of H-2B visas has caused problems at ski resorts, which traditionally have relied on the visa to address seasonal hiring needs.

However, as the government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30th, the H-2b’s visa were capped under the quota earlier than opening day for many winter resorts.

The article recommends that employers needing to address staffing issues consider alternate visas, such as O-1, P-1, H-1B and E-3 visas. H-1B visas are for those coming to the U.S. to fill specialty occupation (i.e. professional) positions, while the E-3 is essentially a variant of the H-1B that is limited to Australian citizens. The O-1 and P-1 visas are for individuals with exceptional or extraordinary ability. Unfortunately, none of these alternate visas is especially useful for low-level employees who have neither a Bachelor's degree nor unique skills.

"New Visa Requirements Changing the Face of Boxing in Arizona" - Redux

The Arizona Star has picked up the article we blogged about last week, relating to P-1 visa requirements for boxers in Arizona. The Star has a broad readership, and as is apparent from the reader comments accompanying the article, that readership seems to be generally inclined against relaxed visa requirements. The following comment is just one example of what is a serious flaw in the country's current immigration debate - a lack of knowledge about immigration processing.

Yes this story is a complete lie and the ADS as usual does zero fact checking.
Immigrant visa applications currently cost $260 per individual application and $65 for issuance.

Too often rhetoric and vitriol prevail over fact and reasoning. As noted on the USCIS website, the filing fee for the I-129 (the form used to file a P-1 petition) is actually $320. Premium processing, which is a virtual necessity for speedy resolution of P-1 cases, is another $1000. Moreover, attorney's fees for the preparation of P-1 petitions typically run in the thousands of dollars simply because the amount of effort involved in procuring a P-1 visa greatly overshadows that which is required for a simple B-1/B-2 visitors visa.

Arizona Boxing Commission's P-1 Visa Requirement Undermines the Sport of Boxing in the State

As we reported earlier, the Arizona Boxing Commission explicitly requires acquisition of a P-1 visa before it will grant permission to an international boxer to fight within the state. According to a recent article in the Arizona-based La Estrella de Tucsón, this new requirement has been severely detrimental to the sport of boxing in the state.

The visa requirement happened at a bad time for the boxing world. Coupled with the country’s economic situation, it has lead to a decline in the frequency of fights.

“They hit us at the same time,” says Montaño, who estimates that the number of boxing matches in the state has dropped considerably – by about 70 percent.

Many of the professional boxers who compete in Arizona hail from Mexico. Since the P-1 visa requires an applying athlete to be "internationally recognized," it is often difficult for lesser-known boxers to receive approval. The standards for P-1 visas are not always easy to meet, especially when the applicant has not achieved a high degree of success, and the costs involved in acquiring such a visa are invariably much higher than a B-1/B-2 visitors visa. Even those boxers who successfully acquire a P-1 visa have been inconvenienced by the policy shift by the Arizona Boxing Commission. For instance, David "The Destroyer" López has voiced his concern that preparing for an opponent has become difficult because visa challenges often lead to last-minute changes on the fight card. Many Mexican boxers and their promoters are now seeking to hold their fights in venues outside of Arizona that would not explicitly condition the issuance of a boxing license on a P-1 visa.

Major League Soccer Player Gets Fast-Tracked P-1 Visa -- But at What Cost?

MLSnet.com reports that New England Revolution striker Edgaras Jankauskas was able to acquire P-1 status in a matter of only three days.

The speedy resolution occurred because Jankauskas already had the right to enter the country on a tourist visa, according to Revolution vice president of player personnel Michael Burns.

Jankauskas entered the United States on the tourist visa on June 28, filed a change of status under the USCIS's Premium Processing service on June 29, and was issued an approval by July 1.

Under Premium Processing, USCIS is required to issue a response to the filing of an eligible petition (such as for O-1 and P-1 status) within 15 days. This response can come in the form of a denial, approval or Request for Evidence (RFE), wherein the USCIS requires the production of additional documentation to support the petition. By regulation, the $1000 premium processing fee is to be refunded if the Service takes longer than the allotted 15 days.

While the idea of using a tourist visa to come to the United States and immediately changing to P-1 visa may seem expedient in the short-run, it could be problematic in the future. Oftentimes consulates will look askance upon the filing of a change of status so soon after entry using a tourist visa, as a quick filing can be seen as evidence of a lack of intent to be a bona fide B-1/B-2 nonimmigrant. Therefore such a strategy can lead to problems in acquiring visas at foreign consulates in the future.

Jamaican Netballers Denied Transit Visas for Passage Through the United States

According to the Jamaica Observer, three out of seven of Jamaica's selectees for the World Youth Netball Championship in the Cook Islands were denied visas by the U.S. Embassy. As a result, Jamaica's participation in the games is jeopardized.

The [Jamaica Netball Association] is hoping to take advantage of a special arrangement with Air Jamaica and fly the delegation to Los Angeles, before boarding another flight shortly after touchdown to New Zealand where they will then continue onto the nearby Cook Islands.

Apparently the duration of the intended layover in the U.S. was only about 12 hours. The appropriate visa for such a stop-over would be the C-1 visa, which like most nonimmigrant visas, requires proof of nonimmigrant intent. Visa applicants are presumed to have an immigrant intent (i.e. an intent to stay in the United States permanently) under Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. As a result, Section 214(b) is the most common reason for visa denials at US consulates and embassies across the world, and is the likely culprit in this case.

The troubling issue for Jamaican sports officials is that the athletes did not even intend to participate in any events in the United States. They required transit through the United States in this case only because of the complexities of travel from Jamaica to the remote Cook Islands.

The incident has caused some minor controversy in Jamaica, with some observers wondering why American consular officials did not take cognizance of the fact that the visa applicants, as national team members, were being vouched for by national authorities. According to one commentator, this is a sign of disrespect:

It is full time that our Ministry of Foreign Affairs take up this matter with the USA and have a protocol established whereby it is known that national representatives have the full backing of the nation

, and we resent our country being deprived of the services of these ambassadors because someone in the immigration department thinks he or she is going to run off into "heaven".