Sherrod Sports Visas prides itself on being an industry leader in obtaining P-1 visas for mixed martial artists. A major part of our mixed martial arts immigration practice, partains to unsigned mixed martial arts fighters who desire to compete in major promotions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championships, Bellator MMA, Professional Fighters League, and Combates Americas. 

To date, all of these promotions are familiar with our firm through the athletes we support. Many of the athletes we support are household names like former UFC Champion Jessica Andrade and rising star Herbert Burns. We also support up and coming fighters now in the UFC such as Dalcha lungiambula, Zviad lazishvili, Oran Kahlon, and many more. 

The visas we secure for unsigned fighters are structured so that the fighter can compete on multiple promotions without changing visas. This structure is historically accepted for all the major promotions. We do have one change to report with the Ultimate Fighting Championships. 

Update on Ultimate Fighting Championships P-1 Policy for Third Party Petitioners

The Ultimate Fighting Championships (“UFC”) is different from other promotions in that they are owned by a publicly traded company, Endeavor [NYSE:EDR]. As such, the UFC has different reporting requirements to federal and state regulatory bodies than other promoters. In short, the UFC has to be specific in how it characterizes “Employees” in immigration petitions. 

In our agent petitions, we characterize the petitioner or the foreign management as the employer directing and navigating the careers of the athlete. The UFC requires that Zuffa LLC be listed as the “employer” for the sake of complying with the internal policies of their parent company; Endeavor. 

Because of this requirement, the UFC will obtain concurrent P-1 visas for athletes that already have P-1 visas. This means that the UFC will not file a visa application that negates a current P-1 visa but rather obtain an additional P-1 for their purposes. This is great for athletes because this permits the athlete to maintain their P-1 status independent of the UFC. There could be cause for delay to wait for approval as the UFC applies for the concurrent P-1 petitions. 

Going forward, we will place the UFC in Form I-129 itself, in Part 9 and its Supplement O and P at 4. and 5. We will also provide full copies of petitions to the UFC, with the permission of course, when athletes are signed to the UFC. 

For more information, do not hesitate to contact us at info@oaklg.com or call the office at 704-243-8178.