James Aranas

[CocoboloCowboy]

Well the story about this latest pool player turned away from the USA is intresting.

But people other then pool players suffer the same thing daily all over the world.

Countries rules we may or may not understand or agree with.

But if you travel, you are subject to many rules effecting you even state or state in USA.

Then you got goofy California laws that are California law effecting 18 Wheelers. That is why many OTR Trucking Companies don’t do CA.

 

[nicksaint26]

Individual athletes can compete for prize money ONLY under a B1/B2 visa which is one of the more common varieties. You cannot hold regular job under one tho as you alluded to. P1 is one type that is way better for pool players.

What if prize money is your only source of income? Would that then be considered your job? Just curious if that has anything to do with why they were sent back?

 

[Chili Palmer]

Individual athletes can compete for prize money ONLY under a B1/B2 visa which is one of the more common varieties. You cannot hold regular job under one tho as you alluded to. P1 is one type that is way better for pool players.

I read that; however, there's no way DO and DD were not paid for some of their performances.

 

[garczar]

What if prize money is your only source of income? Would that then be considered your job? Just curious if that has anything to do with why they were sent back?

DO said in one of his posts that he was sent back for a total time violation. Said the immig. agent said he spent 65% time here over a 4yr. span. They wouldn't know what's your source of income unless you told them or they dug in and did a in-depth online search search. Possible but i don't know just how vigorous these agents are.

 

[garczar]

Tournaments and action is about all they do. Don't know of many paid performances. May be some but they're rare. I know Dennis is all about the action. Doesn't do any paid demos/exhib that i know of.

I read that; however, there's no way DO and DD were not paid for some of their performances.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

What if prize money is your only source of income? Would that then be considered your job? Just curious if that has anything to do with why they were sent back?

As the DHS they and Immigration People are the experts.

MY GUESS EVEN A PRIZE, if won was worked for.

That is what Lawyers get paid for their expertise.

 

[nicksaint26]

DO said in one of his posts that he was sent back for a total time violation. Said the immig. agent said he spent 65% time here over a 4yr. span. They wouldn't know what's your source of income unless you told them or they dug in and did a in-depth online search search. Possible but i don't know just how vigorous these agents are.

I hear they look into you on Facebook etc. to verify the information you are giving them about coming to the US is true. So if they say I play pool professionally and thats why im here the agents may then go to your Facebook to verify your story. Im not 100% sure about this but its what I hear anyway.

 

[Tom1234]

Yes, and prisons have cells. Hopefully you'll get to live in one someday--in another country. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. I hear North Korea has a pretty tight Southern border. Should be ideal for you.

I wish I could chat longer, but I gotta run. Time to work on my website and get busy conjuring up the latest conspiracy theory I'm going to publish. ICE is nice, but General Flynn for the Wynn! Donations from the suckers just bought me a $5 million mansion on my own private island. What a country!

WTF was this rant about? What I stated is true. But it doesn’t take much to trigger far left snowflakes. Looks like we’ll cancel out each other’s vote.

 

[straightline]

Not totally correct here. The violation had to do with how often they were returning. Most common tourist visa is a B1/B2 which allows athletes to compete for prize money. They get in hot water by not staying home long enough. Full term 180day stays here and short stays at home is what gets you red-flagged. Immig. officer can decide on the fly whether you can come back in or not. Someone coming to see granny too often can have same issue. There is NO set rule regarding this. They need the the P1 or other work visa to avoid the hassle.

Say this route starts trending. What to do about event schedules?

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Say this route starts trending. What to do about event schedules?

Your question is valid, but you the Player is responsible for working those details l out, or putting someone on their payroll to manger these schedules.

Honestly I do not know why the USA even allows athletes from other countries to come here, compete, win money, and go home.

Wonder if an athlete win a purse of over $599.00 if they get 1099, and a large percentage, like 40-50% held against US Income Tax filing?

I know if you play in most major US Pro-Sports like NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL, you pay state and city income tax on places you visit to play.

Cottage industry for CPAs. Keeping peoples finances straight

 

[straightline]

Your question is valid, but you the Player is responsible for working those details l out, or putting someone on their payroll to manger these schedules.

Honestly I do not know why the USA even allows athletes from other countries to come here, compete, win money, and go home.

Wonder if an athlete win a purse of over $599.00 if they get 1099, and a large percentage, like 40-50% held against US Income Tax filing?

I know if you play in most major US Pro-Sports like NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL, you pay state and city income tax on places you visit to play.

Cottage industry for CPAs. Keeping peoples finances straight

Logistics would be impossible with customs in the way and I don't need to bring up the untrackable liquidity of the legit economy quantum. Oops...

economy quantum... I like that...

 

[MattPoland]

My take here is that a “tourist visa” was good enough until it wasn’t. If it was a problem, a renewed visa shouldn’t have been issued. It’s like crying foul after you already said it was okay. If the gov’t wanted to make a point about strict interpretation of the rules, do it on the front end with denials (and maybe guidance on options), not on the back end with penalties. That’s a nitty way to operate.

 

[HawaiianEye]

How do all the international poker players get into the US to play in professional tournaments?

Do they come in on tourist visas and leave after a short period or do they hang out for months like the pool players?

 

[JoeyInCali]

Your question is valid, but you the Player is responsible for working those details l out, or putting someone on their payroll to manger these schedules.

Honestly I do not know why the USA even allows athletes from other countries to come here, compete, win money, and go home.

Wonder if an athlete win a purse of over $599.00 if they get 1099, and a large percentage, like 40-50% held against US Income Tax filing?

I know if you play in most major US Pro-Sports like NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL, you pay state and city income tax on places you visit to play.

Cottage industry for CPAs. Keeping peoples finances straight

UFC would be nowhere near what it is now without foreign fighters.
Same with boxing..
Same with tennis.

Where the heck do you get this paying the city and state Income taxes you visit to play?

You are also taking about sports wherein the players have contracts and are protected by their unions.

Pool players are on their own. Most foreign players would starve without sponsorship or benefactors

 

[DDiabolico]

UFC would be nowhere near what it is now without foreign fighters.
Same with boxing..
Same with tennis.

Where the heck do you get this paying the city and state Income taxes you visit to play?

You are also taking about sports wherein the players have contracts and are protected by their unions.

Pool players are on their own. Most foreign players would starve without sponsorship or benefactors

^This

Athletes who earn a lot of money usually have (good) managers who deal with nearly everything for them.

The problem is, I don't know of any sport where athletes still hang around in a country weeks or months after they competed in an event or tournament. As I understand, DO and JA did different things wrong leading to the same result. How come that not a single European pool player had such problems before? Are they just better organized?

Tennis players play a lot of tournaments all over the world. They get there, play and then they're off to their next destination. BUT they are not protected by a union (like the ATP?). Djokovic wasn't allowed to compete in the Australian Open because he lied on his Visa application (yes, the whole case was vaccination related, but that wasn't the real problem). The only difference is, he was just sent back elsewhere and didn't receive a 5 year ban from entering the country.
I don't get how a country like the U.S. has so much technical opportunities to register and track those who enter their country and keep record of those people but then place a 5 year ban of a relatively small violation. Yes, send those guys back home, but you have their profiles saved already. Who the hell cares if they reapply with the correct Visa and come back one week later.

 

[JAM]

My take here is that a “tourist visa” was good enough until it wasn’t. If it was a problem, a renewed visa shouldn’t have been issued. It’s like crying foul after you already said it was okay. If the gov’t wanted to make a point about strict interpretation of the rules, do it on the front end with denials (and maybe guidance on options), not on the back end with penalties. That’s a nitty way to operate.

I agree with this line of thinking. When the COVID pandemic hit in February 2020, visas were given extensions, and there was a very lax attitude about them. Same held true with other regulations such as driver's licenses and tags for cars in my area. Everybody was given an extension. Even tax deadlines were extended.

I think since the pandemic is winding down a bit, Homeland Security is exerting the effort to crack down stronger than ever. With current-day politics involving Ukraine and countries around the world, not just the United States, there's tension on the international front more than ever, which is another reason maybe Homeland Security's radar is in high gear.

 

[garczar]

Say this route starts trending. What to do about event schedules?

That's going to be on the players. I don't see promoters/directors altering schedules to suit any one or group of players. They need to get a visa that allows 5yr stays like a P1 or other work visa.

 

[garczar]

^This

Athletes who earn a lot of money usually have (good) managers who deal with nearly everything for them.

The problem is, I don't know of any sport where athletes still hang around in a country weeks or months after they competed in an event or tournament. As I understand, DO and JA did different things wrong leading to the same result. How come that not a single European pool player had such problems before? Are they just better organized?

Tennis players play a lot of tournaments all over the world. They get there, play and then they're off to their next destination. BUT they are not protected by a union (like the ATP?). Djokovic wasn't allowed to compete in the Australian Open because he lied on his Visa application (yes, the whole case was vaccination related, but that wasn't the real problem). The only difference is, he was just sent back elsewhere and didn't receive a 5 year ban from entering the country.
I don't get how a country like the U.S. has so much technical opportunities to register and track those who enter their country and keep record of those people but then place a 5 year ban of a relatively small violation. Yes, send those guys back home, but you have their profiles saved already. Who the hell cares if they reapply with the correct Visa and come back one week later.

Just my $.02 but i do think the Euro players in general are better at monitoring/handling their visa issues. They may have mgrs. to do it idk. BTW, ND received a 3yr ban from Aust. He was banned by the Minist of Health due to vaccination status. I don't know what other reason were involved. From what i've read he has a good shot at getting his visa back due to what they call' special circumstances'. Mess.

 

[chefjeff]

If pool players could travel freely, what bad would happen because of that?


Jeff Livingston

 

[garczar]

If pool players could travel freely, what bad would happen because of that?


Jeff Livingston

How do you stop at just pool players? Just let in any sports/game players? Just where do you draw a line? Nowhere? Southern border is bad enough. You just want to do away with them altogether and just let anyone in with no checks?