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Dota 29 years agoGosu "GosuGamers" Gamers

US embassy rejects SoNNeikO's visa application twice

According to a tweet by Ukrainian caster Vitali 'v1lat' Volochai, Natus Vincere latest addition Akbar 'SoNNeikO' Butaev has been refused two B1/B2 visa applications with approximately 20 days to go until their flight to Seattle.

The Dota 2 scene is no stranger to visa issues and complications have arised multiple times causing teams to miss out on tournaments. Infamous for its difficult visa application, players from the CIS countries and China usually have a tough time obtaining the visa the first time round.

Individuals intending to apply for a B1/B2 visa will have to fill in the DS-160 form on the US immigration website. Among the long list of questions asked on the form is if the applicant has been denied a US visa twice in the past two years. Assuming the answer is yes, the immigration officer would take a closer look at your application before making the decision to approve it. At times, luck may also play some role in visa application, like if the officer is an avid follower of the eSports scene.

Butaev can continue applying for the US visa for as many times as he want and try to make it a convincing case to the officer. In most cases, Valve would help these players out by issuing them an invitation letter but at times, the immigration officers do not even bother looking at the letter. However, considering his age (18) and coming fresh off high school, it is not surprising if the immigration officers will give him a tougher time when he tells them that he will be playing in a 15 million Dollar Dota 2 tournament.

The rest of Na`Vi members on the other hand, will most probably have no visa issues since they have entered and exit the United States multiple times over the years. It is unknown what would happen to Na`Vi's The International 5 slot assuming Butaev does not end up attaining his visa in time. Perhaps Valve will allow a stand-in considering this is such a unique case.

GosuGamers will keep you updated on Butaev's visa application.

Source: Immihelp, v1lat's Twitter
Image from MarsTV


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