Performers/Athletes

1. I'm a professional tennis player/golfer/race car driver. What type of visa do I require?
   
   If you are competing in a tournament or sporting event for which you will receive no salary or payment from a U.S source, other than prize money, you will require a B-1 visa, or travel visa free, if otherwise qualified for the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). If your proposed activities are not exactly as described, you will require an O or P visa (see further down this page).
2. I'm accompanying a professional golfer on tour to the United States. What type of visa do I require?
   
   Provided you are customarily employed by the golfer and not just hired to accompany him or her for this particular tournament, the golfer is competing in tournaments for prize money only and you will continue to be paid by your employer, you will require a B-1 visa, or you may enter on the VWP. If the professional golfer is applying for an O or P visa, you should apply for an O-2 or P-1 visa to accompany him or her.
   

3. We are a professional football team traveling to the United States to play a match. What type of visa do we require?
   
   Provided the income of the team and salary of the players is principally accrued in a foreign country, you will require B-1 visas, or you may enter on the VWP.
   

4. I'm a professional football player who has been signed up by a U.S. football team to play a match/for a season. What type of visa do I require?
   
   You will require an O or P visa.
5. I'm a race car mechanic/engineer accompanying a professional racing team to the U.S. What type of visa do I require?
   
   Provided you are customarily employed and paid by the racing team, you are a normal and necessary component of the entourage and both you and the team will receive no payment from a U.S. source other than prize money, you will require a B-1 visa. If the racecar driver is applying for an O or P visa, you should apply for the O-2 or P-1 visa to accompany him or her.
6. I'm a jockey/groom. What type of visa do I require?
   
   Provided you are employed by a foreign employer to perform services on behalf of an employer of the alien's nationality as a jockey and your salary will continue to be paid by that employer, you will require a B-1 visa, or travel visa free if otherwise qualified for the VWP.
7. I'm a crewmember of a yacht, which is in an international competition. What type of visa do I require?
   
   Provided you are employed by a foreign employer and your salary will continue to be paid by that employer, you will require a B-1 visa. Amateur crewmembers also qualify for the B-1 visa.
8. I'm an amateur hockey player asked to join a professional U.S. team for a try out. What type of visa do I require?
   
   You will qualify for a B-1 visa provided you have signed only a memorandum of agreement with a National Hockey League-parent team and not a professional contract and you will receive only incidental expenses. When applying for the visa you will be required to furnish a copy of the memorandum of agreement and a letter from the NHL team giving the details of the tryouts. If the agreement is not available, a letter from the NHL team giving the details of the tryouts and stating that such a try out has been agreed must accompany the application.
9. We are a professional theatre group performing at an international festival in the U.S. What type of visa do we require?
   
   Unless the company is participating in a cultural program sponsored by the sending country,or participating in a competition for which there is no remuneration, other than a prize (monetary or otherwise) and expenses, O or P visas are required.I'm a disc jockey who is contracted to perform in the U.S.; what type of visa do I require?You require an O visa.
10. We are musicians who are recording in the United States, what type of visa do we require?
    
    A B-1 visa, or visa free travel is appropriate if you will utilize recording facilities for recording purposes only, the recording will be distributed and sold only outside the United States, and, there will be no public performances.
11. We are a choir that has been invited to perform in the United States. What type of visa do we require?
    
    If you are all amateurs and you will be performing in a social and/or charitable context, you will require B-2 visas, or if eligible may travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. However, if you will be performing to a paying audience, you require P visas. If you are professional musicians, or the group includes a mixture of profession and amateur musicians, you will require P visas.