Athletes have quieter seasons: an injury, a coaching change, a period of fewer tournaments. If your best international results or your highest world ranking came a few years ago, you may have been told you no longer qualify for a P-1A, the U.S. work visa for internationally recognized athletes. A dip in your results does not, on its own, mean you no longer qualify. In October 2026 we won a P-1A for a badminton player in exactly that position.
What the P-1A asks
The P-1A regulation calls an athlete internationally recognized when their achievement is "renowned, leading, or well-known in more than one country" (8 CFR 214.2(p)(3)). That definition does not say how recent the achievement must be, but the regulation describes the athlete in the present tense, as someone "who is an internationally recognized athlete" (8 CFR 214.2(p)(4)(i)(A)). So older results can still count, but you have to show that your recognition continues today.
Our P-1 visa page for athletes sets out the full requirements. Two of those requirements matter most when your record has dipped:
- The evidence. You need at least two of seven kinds of evidence, which our P-1 page lists in full. Five of them can draw on your whole career, not only last season: an international ranking, national-team competition, a significant honor, a statement from your sport's governing body, and a statement from a recognized expert (8 CFR 214.2(p)(4)(ii)(B)).
- Events at your level. You must be coming to compete in an event "which has a distinguished reputation and which requires participation of an athlete or athletic team that has an international reputation" (8 CFR 214.2(p)(4)(ii)(A)).
So the question for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is not whether your last season was your best. The question is whether your record as a whole shows international recognition today, and whether the events you are coming for require an internationally recognized athlete.
Evidence that shows your recognition is current
When your results have dipped, your case needs evidence that your recognition did not stop when your results slowed.
- Your continuing competition record. Official results from events your sport's international federation has officially approved, up to your most recent season, show you are still competing internationally.
- National-team selections. A national-team selection is your federation's own judgment that you are among your country's best, and a recent one shows where you stand now.
- Statements about your standing today. Written statements from your national governing body, and from players competing internationally now, or coaches working at that level, who know your game, carry more weight when they describe your level now, not only your past results.
- Your ranking, explained. A career-high ranking means more to the immigration officer deciding your case when an expert in the sport explains what it represents, for example where it places you among all ranked players.
- The events on your schedule. USCIS considers, among other things, an event's "viewership, attendance, revenue, and major media coverage" and "the extent of past participation by internationally recognized athletes" (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part N, Chapter 2). Prize money and the rankings of past competitors at each event show what level it requires.
What to gather first
- Your ranking history, with the dates of your highest rankings
- Your official results for your most recent seasons, not only your best ones
- Names of current international players, coaches and officials who could describe your level today
Our sport pages, such as the badminton page, list the rest of what we ask for.
Every case is different, and a past approval does not guarantee a future one. If your best results are a few seasons behind you, schedule a consultation and we will look at your whole record before you decide whether to apply.