Greschner4 said:
We've had this discussion before and I respect your opinion and knowledge. I'll only proffer one last time my, I hope, educated opinion as a lawyer and Washingtonian that I'll be shocked if NHL player visas are cancelled. The ECHL doesn't have a tenth the clout and high-paid lobbyists that the NHL does. The fig leaf of legitimacy to distinguish the two cases if they need distinguishing is that the visas held by NHLers aren't the same kind as ECHL visas. NHL caliber workers are not going to be put of work in the United States en masse. I'm not saying it would be right or even in accord with precedent. There are other reasons as well but there's only so much time in the day and mine is only an opinion.
Expiring visas, as I've said, are more thorny, but the issue really isn't much different ... they'll just move renewals through. Again my opinion.
Canada will almost certainly be a different story and a more pro-PA one.
It has nothing to do with clout - US immigration law is clear on this point and it does not distinguish between classes of visas. There is no discretion or exceptions allowed where there is labour dispute in progress.
No new visas, no renewed visas and current visas are not valid - no exceptions. That is US immigration law. Could the law be changed?? - certainly. However I suspect that US labour organizations would be vehemently opposed and passage of any law through the US Congress would take a period of time.
If the US Congress was not prepared to pass legislation to get baseball back on the field what chance is there that NHL hockey would be high on their priority list?
Canada may be different because unlike the US there is no procedure to cancel an existing work permit unless the holder has breached a term and condition of the work permit.
However for any player holding a work permit who has left Canada he would have to make a new application upon re-entry if he is visa exempt or has a valid multiple entry visa and at a Canadian Consulate abroad if he is not visa exempt and does not have a valid and subsisting entry visa. Those work permits cannot be issued.
My opinion is based upon 30 years of experience (10 years of that inside the immigration department) and I know the immigration requirements inside out having obtained numerous work permits for players over the years both in Canada and the US.