Poker Visas for Professional Players | P-1A, O-1A and EB-1A

Sports Immigration

This page is for professional tournament players based outside the United States who play the World Series of Poker (WSOP), PokerGO Tour events and other U.S. series, or who want to base themselves here. How each visa works is on the firm's P-1A, O-1 and EB-1A for athletes pages. Poker raises one question before any other, and the honest answer comes first.

Whether poker counts as athletics: not settled

To the firm's knowledge, no regulation, precedent decision or policy of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says whether poker is an athletic competition for the P-1A, O-1A or EB-1A. What the sources do and do not say:

The regulations are silent. The P-1A regulation applies to someone coming "to perform at specific athletic competition as an athlete" (8 CFR 214.2(p)(1)(ii)(A)(1)), and the O-1A to extraordinary ability in "the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics" (8 CFR 214.2(o)(1)(ii)(A)(1)). Neither paragraph mentions poker or card games, and the P rules define "internationally recognized", "team" and "competition, event, or performance" without defining "athlete" (8 CFR 214.2(p)(3)).
The Policy Manual is silent. The USCIS chapters on P eligibility and on who may petition do not mention poker (Volume 2, Part N, Chapter 2; Chapter 3).
The one appeal decision on this subject does not decide it. In a non-precedent decision of November 24, 2020, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) dismissed an EB-1A appeal by "a writer and lecturer about the game of poker". A footnote reasons that poker is not a "profession" as section 101(a)(32) of the Immigration and Nationality Act defines the word, so "a publication aimed at poker players is not a professional publication" (AAO, In Re: 12283728). The point concerns one EB-1A evidence item, not whether poker is athletics, and the petitioner was not a player.

The firm's reasoning, not settled law. Our argument for a tournament professional is that major poker series have the features USCIS weighs when it asks whether a competition is at an internationally recognized level: viewership, attendance, revenue, major media coverage and the ranking of the players competing (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part N, Chapter 2). An officer may disagree, and no USCIS statement tells you how the question will be decided. The O-1A and the EB-1A raise the same question: of the fields they list, "the sciences, arts, education, business" and athletics, only athletics can fit a player (INA 203(b)(1)(A); AAO, In Re: 12283728).

The open-field problem

The Policy Manual says "the fact that a competition is open to competitors at all skill levels may be a relevant negative factor", and adds that where an event has "differentiated categories of competition based on skill level, the focus should be on the reputation and level of recognition of the specific category of competition" (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part N, Chapter 2).

The WSOP Main Event is one such open field. The WSOP's release says the nine players at the 2026 final table outlasted "thousands of the world's best professionals and passionate amateurs alike" in a field of 9,208 (WSOP, July 14, 2026). A petition can instead build on the specific events a player enters at the highest level, such as the high-roller events on the PokerGO Tour, which runs its own points leaderboard. Whether a high buy-in counts as one of the "documented merits requirements for participants" the Policy Manual lists is an open question.

Evidence of the competition's standing

The WSOP's own figures bear on the Policy Manual's "viewership, attendance, revenue, and major media coverage" factor:

The 2025 series drew 246,960 entries and paid out 481,761,879 U.S. dollars in prize money, both WSOP records, and the WSOP says it has awarded more than 4 billion U.S. dollars in prize money "over the past six decades" (WSOP, July 21, 2025).
The 2026 Main Event carried a first prize of 10 million U.S. dollars, with ESPN coverage in the United States and over 70 countries (WSOP, July 14, 2026).

These figures describe the series as a whole, so they support the series-level factors in your petition rather than your own record.

The player's own evidence

The P-1A asks for at least two of seven items (8 CFR 214.2(p)(4)(ii)(B)(2)). For a poker player:

A ranking, "if the sport has international rankings", such as the PokerGO Tour points leaderboard. The regulation names no accepted ranking systems, so the petition has to explain how the ranking is calculated.
A significant honor or award, such as a WSOP gold bracelet, which the WSOP awards to its event winners (WSOP, July 14, 2026), or a series title.
A statement from a member of the sports media or a recognized expert.
A governing-body statement is harder. The Poker Tournament Directors Association (TDA) describes itself as "a voluntary trade association of the poker tournament industry", "dedicated to adopting a uniform set of poker tournament rules worldwide" (Poker TDA). Whether USCIS would treat its letter as coming from "the governing body of the sport" is untested.

The P-1A also calls for a tendered contract "if such contracts are normally executed in the sport" (8 CFR 214.2(p)(4)(ii)(B)(1)). Tournament poker runs on entries and prize pools (WSOP, July 21, 2025), and whether contracts are "normally executed" in it is another open point.

The item for a season of U.S. college competition is hard to use: poker is not among the 46 sports the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) counts in its demographics database for 2011-12 to 2024-25 (NCAA Demographics Database spreadsheet).

Who files: an agent petitioner

A tournament player has no single employer. A P-1 petition "may be filed by a U.S. employer, a U.S. sponsoring organization, a U.S. agent, or a foreign employer through a U.S. agent" (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 2, Part N, Chapter 3). An agent may file for workers "who are traditionally self-employed", with "a complete itinerary of services or engagements" giving the dates, the actual employers and the venues (8 CFR 214.2(p)(2)(iv)(E)). Altius does not act as an agent petitioner itself; it works with agent-petitioner services and can refer you to one.

The consultation letter

A P-1 petition needs a written advisory opinion, or a letter of no objection, from a labor organization with expertise in the sport, unless none exists (8 CFR 214.2(p)(7)). USCIS's index of organizations that write these letters lists no poker body; the same index lists the U.S. Chess Federation for "Chess players" (USCIS, Address Index for I-129 O and P Consultation Letters, last reviewed September 11, 2026). For a P-1, the regulation says that where "an appropriate labor organization does not exist, the Service shall render a decision on the evidence of record" (8 CFR 214.2(p)(7)(i)(F)). For an O-1, the consultation may come from a peer group, which the regulation says "could include a person or persons with expertise" in the player's area (8 CFR 214.2(o)(5)(i)(A)).

Visiting for one series: B-1 and B-2

The State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual allows a B-1 for professional athletes who receive "no salary or payment from a U.S. source other than prize money", where their principal place of business and their salary are abroad (9 FAM 402.2-5(C)(4)(a)). Whether a consular officer treats a poker player as a "professional athlete" under that provision is not settled. Read as written, sponsorship or appearance fees paid from a U.S. source are payment "other than prize money" and take a player outside that provision. An amateur who will not be paid may compete on a B-2, but "a performer who is normally compensated for performing cannot qualify" under the B-2 provision (9 FAM 402.2-4(A)(7)).

What we need from you

Your tournament results, cashes and titles, with dates and field sizes.
Any ranking positions, with the ranking's published method.
Your planned U.S. schedule, event by event.
Sponsorship, appearance or staking agreements, and who pays you.
Press coverage and letters from recognized figures in the game.

Schedule a Consultation to talk through the open questions for your case before anything is filed.