Visas for Soccer, Futbol, and Futsal Coaches Coming to the United States

Visas for Soccer, Futbol, and Futsal Coaches Coming to the United States
 
 

Whether you call it soccer, futbol, or futsal, we are a premier immigration law firm for coaches and training staff to obtain O-1A visas to work in the United States. Our sports immigration lawyers have years of dedicated experience in obtaining O-1A approvals for soccer coaches with an agent-based petition structure that maximizes the possibilities of work authorization.

We help coaches who want to work directly with a sponsoring team, coaches who have a variety of soccer clubs they wish to work for, and coaches who wish to start their own businesses. 

In 2021, as one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States, there is no shortage of high school, university teams, and private elite soccer clubs vying for the top coaching talent to help their players. Being uniquely positioned to do enough petitions to know what USCIS looks for in evaluating O-1A visas for soccer coaches gives our law firm an advantage. 

What are the benefits of the O-1A visas for soccer, futbol & futsal coaches?:

  • Three years of initial eligibility

  • Wide range of work authorization

  • Possibility of using same visa for multiple employers

  • Bring in supporting staff to help coach under O-2 essential support staff

  • Bring in family under O-3 visa category

  • Dual Intent – great transition to permanent residence “green card”

  • Obtain Social Security Number

  • No requirement to stay in the United States for a minimum amount of days

  • Many more

Who is a great candidate for an O-1 visa as a soccer, futbol and/or futsal coach?

UEFA Certified Coaches

UEFA – the Union of European Football Associations – is the governing body of European football and the umbrella organization for 55 national associations. The UEFA Pro License is a coaching license mandated by UEFA, the official governing body of European football. Issued by each member state’s football federation and valid for two years, the license is the highest coaching certification available and generally follows the completion of the UEFA 'B' and 'A' licenses.

National Team Experience

Coaching the national team, even at the youth level, is a tremendous help for O-1A petitions in soccer. USCIS views these placements as critical employment, memberships in prestigious organizations, and potentially the significant award category if the team was successful. Properly articulating this experience is critical for the O-1A petition. 

Previous Success as an Athlete

We can certainly use an applicant's accomplishment as an athlete in the O-1A petition for coaching. The petition needs to be properly presented with a job description that is fairly neutral so USCIS does not push back on the categories not applying. For example, USCIS is far more likely to consider accomplishments obtained while competing if the job title is Goalkeeping Soccer Professional instead of Goalkeeping Coach. These nuances are very important and can be the difference between approval and denials for O-1A petitions based on soccer performance.