General policyPOLICY UPDATE
Revising Guidance for Pertinent Visa Categories to Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to support and align with Executive Order (EO) 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports. EO 14201 directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop policies to prevent the entry of male athletes seeking to compete in women’s sports.
Effective date and application
This guidance, contained in Volumes 2 and 6 of the Policy Manual, is effective immediately
Key changes
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to support and align with Executive Order (EO) 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports. EO 14201 directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop policies to prevent the entry of male athletes seeking to compete in women’s sports.
- Clarifies that, with respect to demonstrating extraordinary ability in athletics in both the nonimmigrant and immigrant classifications, USCIS considers the fact that a male athlete has
- Explains that USCIS does not consider a male athlete who has gained the necessary acclaim in men’s sports and seeks to compete in women’s sports in the United States to be seeking to continue work in his area of extraordinary ability for both the relevant nonimmigrant and immigrant classifications.
- Provides that, for the immigrant aliens of extraordinary ability classification and the aliens of exceptional ability classification, male athletes seeking to enter the United States to compete in women’s sports do not substantially benefit prospectively the United States.
- Clarifies that it is not in the national interest to the United States to waive the job offer and, thus, the labor certification for male athletes whose proposed endeavor is to compete in women’s sports.
- As part of this update, USCIS is incorporating previously published NIW content into Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 5 of the Policy Manual.6
