111 Iowa L. Rev. 395 (2025)
Abstract
The U.S. immigration system was partly designed to promote the admission of highly skilled foreign nationals. Although the current visa process has provided a route to admission for many foreign nationals, a modern trend is that certain groups of talented athletes do not have a visa option that fits their “semiprofessional” status. Whether they are student athletes or esports athletes, these individuals have skills and talents that, if admitted, would benefit the United States. Yet, due to the barriers that exist as a result of the current visa system, strict limitations exist on what they can do, if they are even admitted into the United States. Given these challenges, the U.S. immigration system must modernize to resolve this modern issue through the creation of a new nonimmigrant visa category that aims to admit individuals who show promising signs of qualifying as highly skilled individuals in the near future. Only through the creation of a new visa category can the issues plaguing these semiprofessional athletes be resolved so that they can continue to contribute their talents and skills to society at large. Although there are potential risks associated with such changes, the overall benefit of a nonimmigrant visa category tailored toward these semiprofessional individuals will ultimately outweigh the costs.