The Bruins dominated Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals last
night! Goalie Tuukka
Rask had an amazing game, stopping all 28 shots for his third shutout of
the postseason.
My admiration
of the Bruins goalie got me thinking about his immigration status (pretty
geeky, I admit). Tuukka Rask hails from Finland, a far off Nordic country that
is cold and dark in the winter and light all day long in the summer. According to his Wikipedia page, he started playing
in a youth league in his home town of Savonlinna, Finland. He then progressed to Ilves, Jr., a Finnish
Junior League. In 2005, he was drafted
by the Tronto Maple Leafs, then traded to the Bruins. Tuukka spent most of his time with the Providence
Bruins, quietly making a name for himself.
Rask’s big break came when he was named as the starting goalie for the
Bruins before the 2012-2013 season lockout, replacing Tim Thomas.
When a
foreign player is drafted under contract with an NHL franchise, the player
applies for a P-1A visa, which is a temporary work visa. P-1A
visa may be issued for up to 5 years initially and permits NHL players to be
traded between NHL teams generally without interrupting the player’s ability to play. It also allows the professional hockey player
to travel in and out of the country with the team as required.
P-1 visas
are generally dependent upon the player being actively on the ice. So if the player is no longer playing, the
P-1A visa will be invalidated, meaning the player falls “out of status,” and would normally have to leave the
United States. In order to prevent this
from happening, many NHL players and franchises initiate the Permanent
Residence (aka
“Green Card”) process
for players on the active roster who
wish to make the United States their permanent home after their playing days are
over. For most foreign-born professional
athletes, this means obtaining a green card through the employment-based
preference category called EB-1, which is a category set aside by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
(“USCIS”) for “extraordinary ability” workers in the
sciences, arts, education, business or…you
guessed it…athletics.
To qualify, the athlete must be able to prove that during
his career, he has been able to demonstrate sustained national or international
acclaim and achievements that are recognized in the field. Simply playing in the NHL does not satisfy the
USCIS regulatory requirement for “extraordinary ability.” Instead, the player must prove that he is
“elite” in comparison to his peers in professional hockey. The most obvious way for the player to do this
is to receive a major internationally recognized award, such as being named an
NHL All-Star, winning an Olympic medal, or being on the Stanley Cup-winning
Team.
So, while winning the Stanley Cup finals would be a tremendous
career high for Tuukka,
it would also increase his chances of getting permanent residence in the U.S. Something to think about that when you’re
cheering for the Bruins during the finals.
