iG.V and LGD.FY fall to the visa plague

Following similar problems at nearly every major Dota2 event held in the US, visa issues have started popping up for teams attending the Boston Major.

The two teams who won the Chinese regional qualifiers, LGD.FY and iG.V, have had their US visa application rejected recently. The visas for part of the LGD.FY squad and the entire IG.V squad were rejected, supposedly due to unfortunate interviewer assignments, and the players' young age and limited education.

The Boston Major group stage is scheduled to start on the 3rd of December, meaning that iG.V and LGD.FY have around two weeks to secure their visas. It is unclear whether more than one substitute player is allowed if either team fails to secure the visa of more than one player.

Statement by LGD:

Bad news arrived this morning, three members belonging to the LGD club, Monet, LPC, and Jixing failed their first visa interview [...] the players' responses to interview questions were smooth and clear [...] interviewers who had minimal understanding of Dota 2. Also, the players' academic level and age were a problem. LGD is now in contact with Valve for further assistance and is actively preparing for the second round of interviews.”

iG's post regarding their visas:

Today, all five of iG.Vitality's visas were denied, our next interview is scheduled for the 18th.”

Zhang 'Xiao8' Ning, the captain of LGD.FY, confirmed that his team is experiencing visa issues on his stream.

With the retirement of older Chinese players and the influx of new Chinese teams in recent years, visa issues are to be expected as most of the newer players are young and have limited education, making it difficult to obtain a US visa. For LGD, this is the second time they have encountered difficulties getting to a Valve event, having been forced to use their substitute player after main player Xue 'September' Zhichuan failed to get a visa in time for The International 6; September was rejected four times.

Historically speaking, CIS and Chinese teams are the most likely to run into visa issues, however, for the Boston Major, it is highly probable that Virtus.Pro will not face significant problems as their roster has several players who have attended events in the US previously.

Source: iG's Weibo, LGD's Weibo