O-1 Visa for World Class Women’s Basketball Player - WNBA Draft Pick
One more win - we successfully obtained an O-1 Visa for the Beneficiary who is a world class basketball player who was drafted in the WNBA draft. Her agent was able to obtain a visa on her behalf during the pandemic which made her extremely attractive to the WNBA teams.
The O-1 Basketball Player
The Beneficiary is currently a professional with exceptional skills and experience in competition and basketball industry contributions. The beneficiary holds multiple Championships, world rankings, and international level awards in her field including a Most Valuable Player award at the basketball World Championship hosted by FIBA, which is the most prestigious award in international basketball.
The Professional Baskball Agent Petitioner
The Petitioner is a sports agency committed to bringing elite athletes the opportunity to face the best competition in the world and get the best training. The Petitioner is more than a basketball athlete management team; the Petitioner is a full-service management agency for athletes offering services including developing basketball player, mapping out roads to success, contract negotiation, creating marketing and endorsement opportunities, financial advice, and preparing clients for careers after basketball.
The O-1 Petition
We demonstrated that The Petitioner would like to extend the O-1A status upon the Beneficiary, whom they consider to be an exceptionally talented world class basketball professional. The petition highlighted the world-class excellence of the Beneficiary.
To establish the Beneficiary’s claim for the Extraordinary Ability visa, we can prove her eligibility in one of two ways. The first is evidence of a one-time achievement, that is, a major internationally-recognized award.
Major internationally-recognized awards
We established that the beneficiary could claim that she is entitled to the O-1A immigrant visa through this route, for the following accomplishments:
Two-time gold medalist helping clinch the women's team Championship and women's 3x3 title for the Philippines under FIBA
How many winners?
One Winner Per Asian World Championship which happens once per year and attended by the premier basketball players in all of Asia
Selection Process
Participants must have earned a position with one of the 4-6 spots on their world championship 3x3 team and then qualify for the world championships which are also an olympic qualifier.
Reputation of the awarding organization:
FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, is the world governing body for basketball. Founded by eight nations in 1932, it now brings together 213 national basketball federations from all over the world.
The second way to establish the athlete’s claim for the Extraordinary Ability visa is to provide evidence of meeting at least 3 out of 10 requirements. We established an iron-clad case for the beneficiary by providing evidence for 5 requirements:
Nationally and Internationally-recognised Awards
2012 CITY MEET CHAMPIONS Champions, Bulacan, Philippines
PCABL CUP Champions, Quezon City, Philippines Mythical Team Member
2015 Palarong Pambansa Mythical Team and Most Valuable Player Bulacan, Philippines
2017 FR. MARTIN'S CUP Champions, Manila, Philippines
UAAP Season 80 3X3 Champions, Manila, Philippines
2013 FIBA ASIA 3X3 U18 5th Place, Bangkok, Thailand
2018 Dickies Cup Champions, Manila, Philippines
SOPROPYL ACOHOL POGENIC NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
NBA 3X3 Girls Division Champion, Philippines
2018 FR. MARTIN'S CUP Champions, Manila, Philippines
WBL U25 Women's Division Champions, Manila, Philippines
UAAP Season 81 3X3 Champions, Manila, Philippines
FIBA ASIA CUP elevate to D1, Wuhan, China
2019 BLIA CUP 5th Place, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2019 BBI Tournament Champions, Manila, Philippines Finals Most Valuable Player
UAAP Season 78-82 Champions, Philippines Season 78: Rookie of the Year Season 79: Mythical Team Member Season 80: Season Most Valuable Player
Gintong Kabataan Awardee
Larangan ng Isports Season 81: Mythical Team Member
Final Most Valuable Player Season 82: Mythical Team Member
PSA Miss Basketball Awardee
2019 SEA GAMES Gold Medalist, Philippines
2019 SEA GAMES 3X3 Gold Medalist, Philippines
2020 University Basketball Association Champions, Taipei, Taiwan All-UBA Team Selection 1000
2016 SEABA Women's Champions, Malaysia
NBA 3X3 Women's Open Champion, Philippines
Membership
We strengthened this O-1A visa application by providing evidence of the Beneficiary’s contributions to the field of Professional Boxing. Evidence of her memberships in associations of repute was shared in the petition:
Multiple Selections to the Philipine National Team
Multiple Selections to Mythical Team
Ms Basketball Philippines (given to the best player in the country
Multiple All Star selections in leagues around the world
Tawainese Professional Basketball Championship team
Media Coverage
We were able to establish that the Beneficiary was featured in publications of international repute. As a leading and well-known professional Basketball champion in the world today, the Beneficiary has received national and international recognition for achievements evidenced by critical reviews and other published materials.
Several award winning publications featuring the beneficiary from all over the word are included with this petition. This includes articles from, the worldwide leader in sports.
Proof of Having Played a Lead and Critical Role
We established that the Beneficiary has been the leading champion in almost all of the major sanctioning bodies in the sport and these bouts have been displayed on the biggest stages and broadcasts which are confirmed in the independent media coverage from all over the world
Filipino National Basketball Team
2012 CITY MEET CHAMPIONS Champions, Bulacan, Philippines
PCABL CUP Champions, Quezon City, Philippines Mythical Team Member
2015 Palarong Pambansa Mythical Team and Most Valuable Player Bulacan, Philippines
2017 FR. MARTIN'S CUP Champions, Manila, Philippines
UAAP Season 80 3X3 Champions, Manila, Philippines
2013 FIBA ASIA 3X3 U18 5th Place, Bangkok, Thailand
2018 Dickies Cup Champions, Manila, Philippines
SOPROPYL ACOHOL POGENIC NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
NBA 3X3 Girls Division Champion, Philippines
2018 FR. MARTIN'S CUP Champions, Manila, Philippines
WBL U25 Women's Division Champions, Manila, Philippines
UAAP Season 81 3X3 Champions, Manila, Philippines
FIBA ASIA CUP elevate to D1, Wuhan, China
2019 BLIA CUP 5th Place, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2019 BBI Tournament Champions, Manila, Philippines Finals Most Valuable Player
UAAP Season 78-82 Champions, Philippines Season 78: Rookie of the Year Season 79: Mythical Team Member Season 80: Season Most Valuable Player
Gintong Kabataan Awardee
Larangan ng Isports Season 81: Mythical Team Member
Final Most Valuable Player Season 82: Mythical Team Member
PSA Miss Basketball Awardee
2019 SEA GAMES Gold Medalist, Philippines
2019 SEA GAMES 3X3 Gold Medalist, Philippines
2020 University Basketball Association Champions, Taipei, Taiwan All-UBA Team Selection 1000
2016 SEABA Women's Champions, Malaysia
NBA 3X3 Women's Open Champion, Philippines
With the help of all the evidence mentioned above, we were able to confirm that the Beneficiary is immensely talented and that she excels in the world basketball stage today and that she meets the required criteria to qualify for the O-1A visa.
For more information on how we help support professional athletes and coaches with O-1 and P-1 visas, please contact our offices at 310-209-8545.