By Blair Henley
You may remember the controversy surrounding the United Arab Emirates decision to deny the visa of Israeli tennis pro Shahar Peer in 2009. The move, likely spurred by the UAE’s lack of diplomatic relations with Israel, prevented her entry into their country for the Dubai Tennis Championships that year and created an international uproar.
Peer’s visa issue brought to the forefront some of the behind the scenes work done to ensure tour players can compete internationally without issue. Considering pros often travel for over 35 weeks of the year, there’s much work to be done in obtaining the visas necessary to cross national borders at will.
That’s where Jon Velie comes in. An Oklahoma-based lawyer world renowned for his work in sports immigration law, Velie has represented international athletes ranging from skiers to gymnasts to monster truck drivers. During his 17 years of experience, he’s also become the go-to guy for many women’s tennis professionals.
Though nightmare stories like Peer’s are not the norm, Velie says his job has gotten harder in recent years given what he calls “the negative immigration climate.”
“9/11 started the first wave of more stringent analysis, and the downturn of the economy has been the most recent one,” he said. “That’s what’s fueling more restrictive immigration analysis.”
Velie is currently representing Slovenian veteran and 2011 Australian Open mixed doubles champion Katarina Srebotnik as well the No. 1 Latvian player Liga Dekmeijere, but one of his most notable tennis clients has been 2010 Wimbledon and U.S. Open doubles champion, Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.
Like many athletes, Shvedova was looking to obtain the P-1 visa necessary for an “internationally recognized” foreign national to compete in the United States for up to five years. While the payoff is great once a player of Shvedova’s caliber obtains a “P” visa, a denial can be disastrous. If an athlete is relegated to using a simple “B” visitor’s visa, she is much more likely to get hassled at the border.
“Often immigration officials think, ‘There is a professional sports visa, so why don’t you have one?’” Velie explained. “If they take that position and keep the player out, she can lose a lot of money and ranking points.”
With a record like Shvedova’s (high rankings of No. 7 in doubles and No. 29 in singles), you’d think it would be relatively simple to document her as an “alien of exceptional ability,” but the process is exceedingly complicated.
“These are very complex visas,” Velie said. “You’ve got to hit all of the check marks, and if you don’t – if you just miss one of them – you don’t get the visa.”
The 31 exhibits Velie and his team compiled to prove Shvedova’s merit as an internationally renowned athlete even included an “expert” letter from Venus Williams, but the highlight of her application was the fact it looked nothing like, well, an application.
Velie formats the evidence and exhibits to look more like an issue of Sports Illustrated than a legal document – a strategy that often results in faster approval than the typical dry cover letter or brief.
“We’re telling a story, whereas most immigration attorneys lay out a table of contents and let the immigration officials try to figure it out,” Velie said of his proprietary Visa Petition process. “Our petitions have color, we’re personifying people, we’re showing how skilled they are and we’re backing it up with experts.”
Imagine sifting through visa paperwork day in and day out, then stumbling across a visa petition with a full-color action shot of the athlete applicant on the cover page. It’s easy to see how that might grab the attention of an immigration official. And with pictures paired with facts and exhibits from beginning to end, interest is created and sustained throughout an otherwise dull document.
Nowhere is the strength of this Visa Petition process more evident than when Velie’s firm receives an inherited case. Athletes and coaches denied a visa the first time around often find success once their information is repackaged with that signature strategy of combining art and sport.
Velie’s success and innovation in the sports immigration world no doubt stem partially from his world-class athletic background. A three-time rugby All-American at the University of California at Berkeley, he went on to coach and play at the international level.
In fact, he secured the first ever “greencard” for a rugby player once the sport went pro in 1995 – a move that kickstarted his work with other athletes. Four years later, he expanded his practice even further with the creation of www.onlinevisas.comand subsequently www.sportsimmigration.com.
With his understanding of universal sports concepts, Velie is able to convey his clients’ strengths much more effectively.
“I find myself as a translator discussing why someone is good at something to somebody that doesn’t necessarily care…is it their backhand, is it their footwork, is it their pace?”
That unique background has been invaluable in helping high-profile players like Shvedova or Srebotnik obtain their visas, but it’s also allowed Velie to create “agent-based petitions” designed to assist foreign college players (among others) who are looking to stay in the U.S. to train, compete and coach after graduation.
“Yaroslava and Katerina, they make millions. Most tennis pros don’t,” he said. “We’ve created an opportunity for a tennis club to be able to hire an international tour player and provide that player a facility in which to work out…it’s very symbiotic.”
Velie extended his connections within the tennis world when he was invited by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to speak to players during the 2010 U.S. Open. And when asked if he was a tennis fan before he started representing professional players, he admitted that his work has rekindled a childhood love for the game.
“Since I’ve been doing this, I’ve found myself watching the Tennis Channel. I’m glued to it now,” he laughed. “It’s been fun to get to know the athletes, and I really like the tennis community.”
When the WTA rankings came out following the Australian Open, the Top Ten featured women from 10 different countries for the first time. That can only mean good things for Velie and the new crop of international players who will be seeking his help in the future.
