In the past year, the community of gamers has shown a big growth. Every day there are more people who specialize in video games.
For some it’s just people who spend time in front of a TV or playing with a computer, but they are considered a community and the United States has categorized them as professional athletes. Good news for the immigrants, with this definition, gamers can opt for a work visa.
Not everyone can be considered a gamer, you need to know how to play, and have knowledge in a game or certain games and consoles, know information about programmers, games online and a series of definitions that make the gamers the best in the business.
There are different kinds of Gamers:
Casual: who focus their attention on a big number of games and are not intended to achieve all objectives.
Regular: they play regularly, have certain skills, but they’re not looking for a big challenge, they are competitive but not wanting to be the best.
Novices: They don’t have much knowledge in games, only want to win.
Hardcore: the ones that dedicates many hours a day playing video games, searching for high scores and looking to complete a game, but they try to do it with great challenges and difficulty levels. They are seeking always to win championships and make games a lifestyle.
Professionals: They have extraordinary skills to play. The gaming community considered this player an expert. Many of these professional players are able to earn money, join good teams and participate in tournaments.
These professionals can also aspire to a work visa in the United States. The US government issued 25 000 P-1 visas annually, this visa is for athletes and entertainment groups. With this visa the gamer has an initial period of five years to remain in the United States, with extension options. For more information about this visa, visit us here
Professional players of StarCraft, League of Legends, Defends of the Ancientes, between other games are invited to work in US gaming companies to participate in a specific athletic competition as athletes, individually or as part of a group or a team, it’s important to have level of performance internationally recognised.
In this cases, gamers are granted with a P-1 visa.
History:
Canadian Danny Shiptur is considered one of the best players in the world, a professional in the game “League of Legends”. He was the first gamer to obtain a visa in the United States. Danny now trains daily with four other team members.
Kim Dong-hwan from Korea, is the second gamer who has managed to get a P-1 visa.
To apply, the gamer must:
Submit a list of events where he/she participated (national or international), must also include skills. It is important that these have been covered by the media.
Evidence of any competition where the gamer won.
According to the game, the gamer must show his/her position in the international ranking.
Having a membership in a national or international team.
Important to have reference letters, which are signed by experts, organizers, eSports companies.