Nika officially earns a spot on the Seattle opening day roster

[Audi1954]

So I just looked it up. A green card, allowing an immigrant to work in the US can take up to a year or more. However, it can, and presumably in Nika’s case, is being expedited through the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, which expedites work visas on a case by case basis. So Nika’s ability to play basketball in the WNBA is currently in the hands of a government bureaucracy…..

Yikes! I wonder why this did not happen to Aailayah Edwards and the Mystics? Or Dorka when she graduated?

 

[packwrap]

Yikes! I wonder why this did not happen to Aailayah Edwards and the Mystics? Or Dorka when she graduated?

Canada has an easier deal than other countries. Hungary and Croatia both in European Union now, so that process can't be too bad, and would be the same as for Dorka.

The biggest reason for this issue is really just the fast turnaround between final 4, draft and start of play.

On April 1, Nika probably was only worried about UConn and going home to play in Europe. Now only 6 weeks later, she needs a new visa.

 

[Audi1954]

Canada has an easier deal than other countries. Hungary and Croatia both in European Union now, so that process can't be too bad, and would be the same as for Dorka.

The biggest reason for this issue is really just the fast turnaround between final 4, draft and start of play.

On April 1, Nika probably was only worried about UConn and going home to play in Europe. Now only 6 weeks later, she needs a new visa.

Hopefully it can be expedited. What a shame.

 

[mudblood]

Welcome to the USA... A country built by immigrants (more than 97% of the current population are immigrants or descendants thereof) but which has been making it increasingly difficult for foreigners to live and work in it.

Nika will be able to play regular games in the W once she has a valid visa allowing her to "work" (earn $$), which could be one of several categories: H, E, O, P (with subcategories). AFAIK, the WNBA does not sponsor the most common employment-based work visa (H-1B). On the other hand, she does not need green card status offered by the E visas, which take a long time to process. My guess is that she is waiting for an O-1 (reasonably quick). I am sure the Storm front office is quite versed in this situation (duh!). We just need to wait.

 

[Skeets]

Welcome to the USA... A country built by immigrants (more than 97% of the current population are immigrants or descendants thereof) but which has been making it increasingly difficult for foreigners to live and work in it.

Nika will be able to play regular games in the W once she has a valid visa allowing her to "work" (earn $$), which could be one of several categories: H, E, O, P (with subcategories). AFAIK, the WNBA does not sponsor the most common employment-based work visa (H-1B). On the other hand, she does not need green card status offered by the E visas, which take a long time to process. My guess is that she is waiting for an O-1 (reasonably quick). I am sure the Storm front office is quite versed in this situation (duh!). We just need to wait.

100% of the USA are immigrants or descendants thereof, including native Americans who beat everyone else here by about ~15,000 years.

Someone is going to have to explain to me why someone who breaks the law and crosses over illegally can be permitted to work, but someone (like our beloved Nika) who does everything correctly, obtains a real visa, now has to jump through hoops (no pun intended) to work. Is something off here?

 

[oldude]

So my best guess on Nika’s situation is that the Storm have to provide documentation to the USCIS confirming Nika’s employment status, which was not fully settled until Monday afternoon. The USCIS then had to expedite the approval to get Nika on the court, which apparently didn’t happen in time for the game on Tuesday night.

Considering that there are so many other foreign players in the W where this issue was not a problem, somebody clearly dropped the ball on this one. Hopefully, everyone involved can get their act together by Friday night when the Storm are on the court again vs the Lynx.

 

[CL82]

So I just looked it up. A green card, allowing an immigrant to work in the US can take up to a year or more. However, it can, and presumably in Nika’s case, is being expedited through the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, which expedites work visas on a case by case basis. So Nika’s ability to play basketball in the WNBA is currently in the hands of a government bureaucracy…..

I'm reminded of the nine words that president Reagan thought were the most frightening in the English language:

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

 

[BBallF]

For what it’s worth, Nika can not play tonight in the season opener because she is still waiting for her work visa to be approved……

Terrible news but thanks for the heads up. Hopefully this will be rectified immediately.

 

[Urshurak]

The Seattle storm website has her on the injured list. Not sure what that's about?

 

[Ozimoto]

Having been involved with getting work visas for employees who were making the transition from student to worker, there is a process that needs to be worked through. Everything has to be done correctly on the application or it becomes a protracted process of corrections, resubmissions, etc. The epitome of bureaucratic red tape.

 

[hoopsfan22]

I don't understand why she just can't play while the paperwork is worked out? It's not like there's a chance the government is going to say "nope back to Croatia!"

 

[oldude]

I don't understand why she just can't play while the paperwork is worked out? It's not like there's a chance the government is going to say "nope back to Croatia!"

But what about all the i dotters and t crossers who would have a meltdown if procedures weren’t followed to the letter….

 

[Newfie]

100% of the USA are immigrants or descendants thereof, including native Americans who beat everyone else here by about ~15,000 years.

Someone is going to have to explain to me why someone who breaks the law and crosses over illegally can be permitted to work, but someone (like our beloved Nika) who does everything correctly, obtains a real visa, now has to jump through hoops (no pun intended) to work. Is something off here?

I don’t know where you got this information, but no, they can’t just be hired. There are a couple programs like DACA or Temporary Protected Status that provide limited protection from deportation. More likely employers are paying them under the table to save money.

 

[#12in21]

https://x.com/CirclingSports/status/1790580462571954232

Nika on the court at half time supporting her teammates

 

[Cuango]

I don’t know why this wasn’t done weeks ago! I do know it’s serious business though. There was a pro pool player whos tried to play here w/o his proper work visa. He got away with it for more than a year but was finally caught and is now banned for five years! Serious business!

 

[MSGRET]

Maybe the processor is an alum from a rival Big East team who despises UConn and is slow walking the paperwork.

 

[Crossover]

I don’t know why this wasn’t done weeks ago! I do know it’s serious business though. There was a pro pool player whos tried to play here w/o his proper work visa. He got away with it for more than a year but was finally caught and is now banned for five years! Serious business!

See post #56, above. You can't apply for a work visa until you have been offered and have accepted employment, neither of which was the case weeks ago.

 

[Skeets]

I don’t know where you got this information, but no, they can’t just be hired. There are a couple programs like DACA or Temporary Protected Status that provide limited protection from deportation. More likely employers are paying them under the table to save money.

Try Google. Undocumented (formerly illegal) immigrants make up 4.4% of the U.S. workforce. Asylum seekers, and nearly ALL of them are asylum seekers, can get an EAD after a period of time while their asylum status is pending. Their status is likely to be pending for 8+ years.

 

[Bald Husky]

They better resolve this fast as I'm afraid they will suspend her and add another player to the roster. Injured list, a way to explain why she isn't playing, but if they are talking mentally, then I believe she is injured.

 

[CL82]

They better resolve this fast as I'm afraid they will suspend her and add another player to the roster. Injured list, a way to explain why she isn't playing, but if they are talking mentally, then I believe she is injured.

I'm sure this is a familiar issue to the team's management. It probably comes up pretty consistently in the WNBA.

 

[psconn]

Obviously, I don't know for sure, but it Flfeels like a ball drop to me. I've seem tons of foriegn D1 players move seamlessly to the W. No idea who had the slippery fingers, though.

if they don't already, colleges and the W should collaborate on giving foreign players explict education in these matters right from the beginning. I know the W provides players with "life in the W" sessions but I don't know how early this staets or if the visa issues are covered.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Obviously, I don't know for sure, but it Flfeels like a ball drop to me. I've seem tons of foriegn D1 players move seamlessly to the W. No idea who had the slippery fingers, though.

if they don't already, colleges and the W should collaborate on giving foreign players explict education in these matters right from the beginning. I know the W provides players with "life in the W" sessions but I don't know how early this staets or if the visa issues are covered.

I don't think there was a ball dropped. She can't apply for the visa until she has a job in hand which she did not have until Monday at 5 PM I believe. Her situation is unique because she was on the bubble for making the team where as other foreign players had their spot sewn up early enough in camp to ensure visa issues were worked out. The only real fix is to have more time between roster finalization day and the first game of the season to allow foreign players that aren't picked until the last day to have time to sort out their immigration stuff.

 

[psconn]

I don't think there was a ball dropped. She can't apply for the visa until she has a job in hand which she did not have until Monday at 5 PM I believe. Her situation is unique because she was on the bubble for making the team where as other foreign players had their spot sewn up early enough in camp to ensure visa issues were worked out. The only real fix is to have more time between roster finalization day and the first game of the season to allow foreign players that aren't picked until the last day to have time to sort out their immigration stuff.

Her situation with respect to earning a late spot is definitely not unique in the history of the league. I have no real info beyond the obvious, though.

 

[JoePgh]

I don't think there was a ball dropped. She can't apply for the visa until she has a job in hand which she did not have until Monday at 5 PM I believe. Her situation is unique because she was on the bubble for making the team where as other foreign players had their spot sewn up early enough in camp to ensure visa issues were worked out. The only real fix is to have more time between roster finalization day and the first game of the season to allow foreign players that aren't picked until the last day to have time to sort out their immigration stuff.

So why didn't Dorka have the same issue with the Lynx last year? She wasn't assured of a spot on the team until the last day of preseason in 2023.

 

[hoopsfan22]

So why didn't Dorka have the same issue with the Lynx last year? She wasn't assured of a spot on the team until the last day of preseason in 2023.

The State Department is probably where you need to direct this question. And really we have no idea what goes on behind the scenes in camp in terms of roster management and the actual timeline of it all since all we are privy to is press releases and social media posts, so maybe Dorka's situation wasn't the same, we'll never know.