FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Information for Performers, Entertainers and Athletes

• I'm a professional tennis player/golfer/race car driver. What type of visa do I require?
• I'm a racecar mechanic/engineer accompanying a professional racing team to the U.S. What type of visa do I require?
• We are a professional football/soccer team traveling to the United States to play a match. What type of visa do we require?
• I'm a professional football/soccer player who has been signed by a U.S. football team to play a match/ for a season. What type of visa do I require?
• We are a choir who have been invited to perform in the United States. What type of visa do we require?
• I'm a crewmember of a yacht, which is in an international competition. What type of visa do I require?
• We are a professional theater group performing at an international festival in the U.S. What type of visa do we require?
• We are musicians who are recording in the United States, what type of visa do we require?

I'm a professional tennis player/golfer/race car driver. What type of visa do I require?

If you are competing in a tournament or sporting event for which you will receive no salary or payment from a U.S source other than prize money you will require a B-1 visa. If your proposed activities are not exactly as described, you will require an O or P visa.
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I'm a racecar mechanic/engineer accompanying a professional racing team to the U.S. What type of visa do I require?

Provided you are customarily employed and paid by the racing team, you are a normal and necessary component of the entourage and both you and the team will receive no payment from a U.S. source other than prize money, you will require a B-1 visa. If the racecar driver is applying for an O or P visa, you should apply for the O-2 or P-1 visa to accompany him or her.
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We are a professional football/soccer team traveling to the United States to play a match. What type of visa do we require?

Provided the income of the team and salary of the players is principally accrued in a foreign country, you will require B-1 visas.
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I'm a professional football/soccer player who has been signed up by a U.S. football team to play a match/for a season. What type of visa do I require?

You will require an O or P visa.
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We are a choir who has been invited to perform in the United States. What type of visa do we require?

If you are all amateurs and you will be performing in a social and/or charitable context, you will require B-2 visas, or if eligible, may travel visa-free under the visa waiver program. However, if you will be performing to a paying audience, you require P visas. If you are professional musicians, or the group includes a mixture of profession and amateur musicians, you will require P visas.
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I'm a crewmember of a yacht which is in an international competition. What type of visa do I require?

Provided you are employed by a foreign employer and your salary will continue to be paid by that employer, you will require a B-1 visa. Amateur crewmembers also qualify for the B-1 visa.
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We are a professional theater group performing at an international festival in the U.S. What type of visa do we require?

Unless the company is participating in a cultural program sponsored by the sending country; or participating in a competition for which there is no remuneration other than a prize (monetary or otherwise) and expenses, O or P visas are required.
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We are musicians who are recording in the United States. What type of visa do we require?

A B-1 visa, or visa free travel is appropriate if you will utilize recording facilities for recording purposes only; the recording will be distributed and sold only outside the United States; and, there will be no public performances.
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E-mail: ConsulateVienna@state.gov (Please provide fax number or mailing address in your e-mail.)