British Call of Duty Players Warned by US Customs After Traveling to US for CoD Champs
The way British Call of Duty players enter the United States for competitions may be changing after members of Red Reserve and BRASH received warnings from U.S. Customs.
Going forward, international Call of Duty players might need a new form of visa to attend competitions in the United States.
Red Reserve star Rhys ‘Rated’ Price was almost denied entry to the US when travelling for the Call of Duty Championships.
Rated was warned he would need a P1 visa going forward, or it is possible he could be denied entry.
Rise Nation’s Slasher Can’t Wait to Return to a Faster Role
According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the P1 visa is reserved for “internationally recognized athletes.”
You must be coming to the United States to participate in team events and must have achieved significant international recognition in the sport. The event in which your team is participating must be distinguished and require the participation of athletic teams of international recognition.
UK team Splyce already has P1 visa status, though they still faced issues with Jurd traveling to the CWL Pro League.
Rated reached out to Dexerto to say that Red Reserve are working on acquiring P1 visas and the issue will be resolved for next season.
The need for P1 visas could be a sign of the growing popularity of Call of Duty esports, or a result of increasingly tougher US immigration laws.
The Italian team iDomina could not get visas for their players in time after winning the Italian National Circuit, causing them to miss out on the Last Chance Qualifier for CoD Champs.
The new visa requirements could be a major issue for international teams if the Black Ops 4 season features as many American tournaments as CoD:WWII did.
The CWL would like to see more region mixed teams next year, but the American government may not be in agreement.