WASHINGTON, D.C.—Legislation authored by Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Susan Collins to address the shortage of visas currently available for some minor league athletes has been accepted as part of the Immigration Reform bill currently being debated in the U.S. Senate.
Senator Collins’ amendment would expand the P-1 visa program, which is currently only available to major league athletes of teams recognized at an international level, to include athletes that play on high-level amateur teams such as the Lewiston MAINEiacs and the Portland Sea Dogs.
“This legislation will level the playing field for minor league sports teams that depend on getting the best athletic talent,” said Senator Collins. “There is no reason why major league players can qualify automatically for P-1 visas, which are granted to talented athletes, artists, and entertainers, while minor league players can not. My amendment remedies this unfair situation and I am pleased that it is now included in the Senate Immigration Reform bill.”
Under current law, minor league athletes can qualify only for H-2B nonimmigrant visas, which are in short supply and provided to seasonal workers such as hotel and restaurant employees. However, in the past, the MAINEiacs franchise has faced tremendous difficulties obtaining the H-2B visas and, as a result, the team had to reschedule or cancel several early season games placing a hardship on the team, its talented players, and threatened the significant revenue the team generates for the Lewiston-Auburn area.
Specifically, Senators Collins’s amendment would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand the “P” nonimmigrant visa category. It would make eligible for the P-1 visa:
· Athletes playing for a team that is located in the United States and a member of a foreign league of 15 or more amateur sports teams, if:
• that league is the highest level of amateur performance of that sport in the foreign country,
• players on that team are ineligible under NCAA rules to play that sport at an American college or university, and
• a significant number of the players in the league are drafted by major league sports teams or their minor league affiliates;
· Coaches for the foreign amateur sports teams described above;
· “professional athletes,” including players for minor league teams associated with one of the major professional sports leagues; and athletes, performing individually or as part of a group, in a theatrical ice skating production.
Senator Collins’ amendment would also make it possible for teams applying for P-1 visas on behalf of their players to include more than one player on a single visa petition, as is currently permitted for H-2B visa applicants. The team will be required to pay a single, flat fee for each such petition.
Lastly, this amendment makes explicit that this change will not prevent these athletes, or the teams that employ them, from applying for other types of nonimmigrant visas.
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