Visa Options for NFL Players and Other Professional Football Leagues
Los Angeles-based sports immigration law firm Sherrod Sports Visas is fielding inquiries from international athletes from around the world to play professional football in the United States. For the past two years, our sports law practice has engaged stakeholders regarding issues of work visas for National Football League (“NFL”) and Xtreme Football League hopefuls. The good news is that our discussions with stakeholders in professional football confirm that there is an interest in having more partitions from internationally recognized foreign athletes. This year we are supporting more players interested in both the domestic national football league combine and other combines held around the world.
Sports Immigration Lawyers for Football Players
The issue with obtaining and maintaining work authorization in the O-1 or P-1 visa category for football is that the visa is typically procured and reserved by the football team that holds a contract with the player. If the terms contract is terminated, this visa is no longer valid after 30 days and the foreign athlete will have to leave the country or find another visa status to stay in the United States. Unfortunately, it is historically very difficult for most foreign nationals to maintain a consistent roster spot with NFL teams and they routinely are cut from practice squads or released into free agency.
Sponsoring P-1 and O-1 visas with agents, managers and other third parties
We have introduced new structures for undertaking P-1 and O-1 visas for foreign football players who will survive the contractual relationship with the team. If the player procures their own visa with a third party such as an agent or family member, and the itinerary of the visa is structured properly, the player can maintain the work visa for multiple years without interruption.
The visa category that is much more likely for success depends on the background of the athlete and the ambitions of the athlete for the next 12 months. Most commonly we offer services to foreign nationals who are already established in other sports besides football, such as rugby, or competed in NCAA-level football and need to transition out of the F-1 student visa.
Please do not hesitate to contact our offices for news updates, policy changes, and individual consultations for business and sports visas appropriate for professional football players.