Brazilian National Wrestling Team Member Brenda Palheta Receives O-1 Visa

Brazilian National Wrestling Team Member Brenda Palheta Receives O-1 Visa

Brazilian National Wrestling Team Member Brenda Palheta Receives O-1 Visa

It gives us immense pleasure to announce yet another O-1A visa approval for the extraordinarily talented grappler, Brenda Palheta.

The petitioner Crossfit Mount Pleasant LLC dba Crossfit Park West and Park West BJJ is on a mission to build a physically fit and capable community of dedicated members. Through their programs, their members are able to enhance and improve their lifestyle physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

The O-1 Visa Petition for the World-Class Grappler

As counsel for the petitioner, we illustrated through exhibits that the petitioner would like to extend the O-1 status upon Ms. Brenda Palheta. The petitioner, Crossfit Mount Pleasant LLC, considers Ms. Palheta to be an outstanding grappler and we set out to prove this through our petition. 

It is a known fact that highly ranked American fighters need other highly ranked fighters to compete against so that they can improve their own world standings. As the number of highly ranked American fighters is very low, they don’t have the opportunity to improve their world rankings. Granting them the chance to compete against international talent is a way for them to improve their skills and rankings.  

We can claim Ms. Palheta’s eligibility for the O-1 visa in one of two ways – either that she is a recipient of a major internationally recognized award or that she meets at least 3 of 10 eligibility criteria. We went ahead to prove her eligibility by demonstrating that she meets at least 3 of 10 eligibility criteria. 

Internationally-recognized Awards

Being a world-class grappler, it is but natural that Ms. Palheta is the recipient of several prestigious awards – both nationally and internationally recognized. We showcased all the major championships she has won. The petition included all details of her bouts and championship wins. 

Memberships in prestigious organizations

We then provided evidence that Ms. Palheta is a part of teams that require outstanding achievements of their members. Because of her achievements and awards, Ms. Palheta is a part of the following organizations:

United World Wrestling (UWW)

United World Wrestling is the international governing body for the sport of wrestling; its duties include overseeing wrestling at the Olympics. The prestigious competitions governed by UWW include the World Cup, Brazil Cup, Pan American Games, the Summer Olympics, as well as a plethora of world championships around the world.

Brazilian National Team

The Brazilian National Team is Brazil’s professional wrestling team where only the top athletes are selected to compete in international competitions, including the Olympics. Ms. Palheta was chosen to be a member of this team because of her outstanding abilities as a grappler and wrestler. 

Internationally-recognized publications

Being featured in the press is part of an athlete’s journey as they build a reputation for themselves as the best in their field. Ms. Palheta, as a world-class grappler has garnered a lot of international press coverage, and has been featured in noteworthy publications all over the world. We were able to provide a comprehensive list of leading publications that featured her and her rise in the field as an outstanding grappler. 

Being covered in several reputed media publications was instrumental in establishing Ms. Palheta’s eligibility for the visa. 

Employment in a Critical or Essential Capacity

We explained that Ms. Palheta has served in a critical and essential capacity as world-class grappler and coach for distinguished organizations, including United World Wrestling, Brazilian National Team, and Clube Pina de Jiu-Jitsu (CPJJ), among others.

United World Wrestling is the international governing body responsible for supervising Olympic wrestling. As a member of the Brazilian National Team, Ms. Palheta was selected to participate in the Olympics in the essential and critical capacity of wrestler/grappler where she won both a bronze and a silver medal.

Clube Pina de Jiu-Jitsu (CBJJ) is an internationally recognized Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling and mixed martial arts academy in Brazil founded by the legendary Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Faustino Neto aka Master Pina. Ms. Palheta played an essential role in his academy as wrestler and coach for grappling. 

Brazilian National Team chooses only the top athletes to compete in international competitions, including the Olympics. Ms. Palheta was chosen to be a member of the Brazilian National Team because of her outstanding abilities as a wrestler and grappler. 

We provided testimonial letters from stalwarts in the field to reiterate Ms. Palheta’s outstanding caliber as a world-class grappler and her critical role in organizations with distinguished reputations. 

With all of the above information and evidence, we were able to prove that Ms. Brenda Palheta is an outstanding talent and stands out in her field of grappling. All this evidence of Ms. Palheta’s extraordinary ability proved that she meets multiple criteria and qualifies for the O-1A visa. 

Ms. Palheta was successfully shown to be unambiguously qualified as an O-1 athlete of Extraordinary Ability.

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.

Sherrod Seward