Rob Seiger Quoted in Forbes Article “Berkeley International Student Athlete Sam Alajiki Signs NIL Deal”

Robert Seiger, a partner at Archer and member of the Sports Law practice group, discusses the potential visa issues international student-athletes could face when signing a NIL deal even with an organization that is registered to do business in the athlete’s home country and paying in local currency. Seiger is quoted on saying “The​ ​issue​ ​here​ ​ultimately​ ​is​ ​not​ ​where​ ​the​ ​payment​ ​to​ ​the​ ​student​ ​athlete​ ​is​ ​made,​ ​but​ ​what​ ​the​ ​student​ ​athlete​ ​is​ ​doing​ ​in​ ​the​ ​United​ ​States​ ​that​ ​could​ ​get​ ​them​ ​sideways​ ​with​ ​USCIS​ ​as​ ​to​ ​performing​ ​unauthorized​ ​’work’​ ​for​ ​compensation.​ ​If​ ​the​ ​scenario​ ​entailed​ ​the​ ​student​ ​athlete​ ​doing​ ​appearances,​ ​signing​ ​autographs​ ​and​ ​other​ ​active​ ​promotions​ ​in​ ​the​ ​United​ ​States,​ ​and​ ​it​ ​was​ ​simply​ ​the​ ​pay​ ​being​ ​placed​ ​into​ ​a​ ​foreign​ ​bank​ ​account,​ ​I​ ​could​ ​see​ ​this​ ​as​ ​being​ ​potentially​ ​problematic.​”

Read the full article and more of Rob’s input here.