Temporary Commentary Work

[gamcom 0]

I'm just looking for overall information as I'm having trouble understanding the exact visa that would be necessary (likely for my employer to submit for?) for this situation.

 

my situation

I'm a Canadian citizen, and I do commentary work for video games. Often times these require tournaments hosted at local venues and obviously there are many such events in the USA.

- Events usually last 1-3 days (and can be compared to something like a baseball/football/hockey tournament

- I'm not a full time professional

- I am well known internationally but not at a top tier of the profession

- I have work history primarily in Canada or for international organizations outside of the USA.

- general pay is $300-400/day

 

1. if the event is "volunteer" work, I've read that they may deny you if you've done such work professionally in the past. what are the odds that this is the case given I do this part time?

2. what visa am I most likely looking at for general paid work?

[Boiler 45,486]

An I visa maybe, who pays you?

[gamcom 0]

7 minutes ago, Boiler said:

An I visa maybe, who pays you?

varying different companies organizing gaming tournaments/events. there's no real schedule. I get contacted 1-4 months out from a tournament. Generally these are US based companies but there are scenarios in which they are foreign based operating a single event in the US which may or may not be a different situation entirely.

Edited October 29, 2019 by gamcom

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

You are correct that the employer will need to file, they should let their immigration attorney figure out what is needed and start the process.

[Boiler 45,486]

So you are employed by the US organizers, realistically I think there is no obvious way to do this that makes financial sense. I could see perhaps if you were employed by a Canadian company as a journalist? One of those consultation with an Immigration Lawyer type situations to see if it is practical and how you would need to be organised to make it so.

[gamcom 0]

31 minutes ago, Boiler said:

So you are employed by the US organizers, realistically I think there is no obvious way to do this that makes financial sense. I could see perhaps if you were employed by a Canadian company as a journalist? One of those consultation with an Immigration Lawyer type situations to see if it is practical and how you would need to be organised to make it so.

yeah this is my worry. I know there are plenty of people that have done this type of work in the past but usually the smaller events that I'd be working at (at least in the near future, paying somewhere from $200-600/day usually) use primarily americans. The ones using international talent are top tier events paying significantly more. At that point I'm guessing they may be looking at a different visa class as they're "internationally recognized"? or is it just more financially realistic (as application etc would be less comparatively to the day rate of the individual)

 

I'm planning on doing a consultation at some point just wanted to see what the general idea on here was first. Of course at the end of the day it's up to the company to do the actual leg work on getting the visa but it'd be nice if I had some idea so perhaps in some circumstances I would be able to say something of substance when the issue comes up.

 

note: most companies that hire me inside of canada hire me as an independent contractor.

Edited October 29, 2019 by gamcom

[Boiler 45,486]

O1 would be for those of outstanding ability.

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, gamcom said:

yeah this is my worry. I know there are plenty of people that have done this type of work in the past but usually the smaller events that I'd be working at (at least in the near future, paying somewhere from $200-600/day usually) use primarily americans. The ones using international talent are top tier events paying significantly more. At that point I'm guessing they may be looking at a different visa class as they're "internationally recognized"? or is it just more financially realistic (as application etc would be less comparatively to the day rate of the individual)

 

 

A work visa often ends up costing the sponsor thousands of dollars, so yes it makes no sense for occasional gigs of a few hundred dollars each.

Not sure if a P visa might work for you? Not too familiar with them & not time to research now but I think you can apply yourself. 

[jan22 3,053]

4 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

A work visa often ends up costing the sponsor thousands of dollars, so yes it makes no sense for occasional gigs of a few hundred dollars each.

Not sure if a P visa might work for you? Not too familiar with them & not time to research now but I think you can apply yourself. 

A P vIsa requires an approved petition that was filed by the employer....plus, I don't think this type of employment would fall under the P visa requirements.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

43 minutes ago, jan22 said:

A P vIsa requires an approved petition that was filed by the employer....plus, I don't think this type of employment would fall under the P visa requirements.

Hm, it appears that a P visa can be filed by an agent to work for multiple employers, but I agree that it doesn’t look like this work would fall under P.

 

.... I guess all of the above shows why as OP says, these jobs tend to be done by locals.