I love to play tennis, so I was very happy when a foreign-born successful tennis coach and a former Davis Cup reserve team member contacted me and retained me. He had an O-1 visa and wanted to apply for his legal permanent residence (green card). We applied under the first preference category (EB-1) and had to submit documentation evidencing that he, a nationally and internationally acclaimed tennis coach, meets at least three of the ten criteria required to establish his extraordinary ability in athletics, specifically tennis coaching.
1) We provided evidence of his original athletic contribution of major significance:
My client has extraordinary skills and abilities as both a tennis champion and a coach. As a world-class tennis player from a young age, he has deep insight into the on and off court skills to physically and mentally challenge his students and improve their game. He understands and is able to coach his students through the pressures of the court that come from winning and losing matches, keeping focused, traveling, interviewing, and team dynamics. Consequently, he has been very successful at training and overseeing several national champions and highly ranked tennis players in various age groups and of both genders. He developed numerous elite players and help them achieve top national rankings and win tournaments.
2) We provided evidence that my client performs in a leading role for an organization that have a distinguished reputation. The organization is a tennis academy with one of the most successful junior tennis development programs in the United States that were developing world-class athletes for a very long time. As a world-level athletic development program, this tennis academy required extraordinary coaches who have the expertise to train high-performance players to achieve top national and international rankings. As the academy high- performance head coach, my client has already contributed greatly to the academy’s program’s success by developing and managing elite players and leading them to impressive results. My client is an integral part of the academy’s success as evidenced by numerous support letters and academy and his students’ accomplishments.
3) We provided evidence that my client received nationally and internationally recognized prizes and awards, specifically, his ATP and ITA ranking, tournament placements, and awards.
4) We provided evidence of his membership in associations which require outstanding achievement of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts, specifically that he was a member of National Junior Tennis Team and Davis Cup reserve team member.
5) We also provided evidence of my client’s participation as a judge of the work of others, specifically as a chair umpire.
6) In addition, we provided evidence of published material about my client in professional or major sports publications.
7) Further, we provide evidence of his high salary in relation to others in his field
We had to also show that my client will continue his achievements in the area of tennis coaching and that the approval of the EB-1 petition will substantially benefit the U.S. The U.S. will certainly benefit from my client’s coaching of U.S. tennis players to improve in their tennis careers, achieve highest rankings, win more Olympic medals for the U.S. and wins for the U.S. Davis Cup team.
Since the evidence clearly showed my client’s extraordinary ability in tennis coaching and that he has risen to the very top of his field and has sustained national and international acclaim, his petition was approved in just 11 days.
If you would like to discuss if you meet the criteria for an extraordinary ability green card, call the immigration attorney Irena Juras at 480-425-2009 or contact her via website TODAY! We look forward to talking with you and helping you obtain your green card!
