Strong Immigration Firms for Entertainment in 2026

Artists, performers, and athletes come to the United States under the O-1 and P classifications.

The O-1B covers an individual who has extraordinary ability in the arts, or a record of extraordinary achievement in motion pictures or television. The P categories cover internationally recognized athletes, competing individually or on a team, members of internationally recognized entertainment groups, reciprocal-exchange performers, and culturally unique artists. An O-1B or P-1 petition is built on documented recognition: critical reviews, billing, commercial success, and, for athletes, rankings and results.

That evidence looks different in every discipline. Recognition for a session musician looks different than recognition for a choreographer or a professional tennis player.

Each case is built on a specific timeline, whether it’s a shoot, a season, a tour, or an opening night.

The firms below each have a stated arts, entertainment, or sports practice and work in the O-1 and P classifications. For each one, this guide covers what the firm does and the clients it fits. All data below is sourced from each firm's publicly available website, as of Aug. 3, 2026.

Which Immigration Firms Are Strong for Entertainment in 2026?

The firms below range from full-service practices with dedicated arts and sports groups to boutiques built around individual performers.

Manifest Law

Manifest Law runs dedicated O-1, P-1, and EB-1 practices, working with individual artists and athletes as well as the employers that petition for them. Its O-1 practice covers O-1B for arts, film, and television, and it runs a dedicated P-1 practice for athletes and entertainment groups, including touring bands and performance companies, with attorneys focused on P-1 visas.

They also handle the O-2 support classification and EB-1 paths that performers and athletes often move to next. Manifest has served 3,000 clients across its practice areas.

The engagement is built for predictability. Cases are handled on a per-case flat fee with no hourly billing, every plan tier includes a two-chair legal review before filing, by a second attorney or a former USCIS officer depending on the plan, and a client can start with a free eligibility quiz and consultation before signing anything.

Manifest attorneys average more than 11 years in immigration, the firm selects fewer than 1% of the attorneys who apply, and its bench includes an advisory board of former USCIS and DHS officials.

Manifest's strengths as a law firm are well-suited for: artists, performers, and athletes who want flat-fee pricing, a case they can track, and one firm across O-1B, the P categories, and the green card that follows. Read Manifest's O-1 guide for athletes.

Wildes & Weinberg

Wildes & Weinberg is a New York firm founded in 1960 by Leon Wildes, who represented John Lennon and Yoko Ono between 1972 and 1976, with additional offices in Englewood, New Jersey; Aventura, Florida; and, by appointment, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv. The firm describes substantial immigration work for performing artists, filmmakers, writers, models, actors, athletes, and other creative professionals, handling O-1B and the P visa categories for entertainers and groups.

Wildes & Weinberg's strengths as a law firm are well-suited for: individual performers, models, and creative professionals filing O-1B or P petitions.

Law Offices of Marcus Yi

The Law Offices of Marcus Yi is a New York firm that describes itself as specializing in O-1 visa applications and immigration services for individuals and organizations in the creative and artistic industries, spanning theater, fashion, graphic design, multimedia arts, photography, music, dance, and film. The firm notes that its founding partner is an artist himself.

The Law Offices of Marcus Yi's strengths as a law firm are well-suited for: creative professionals who want a boutique whose founder works in the arts.

Yaghmai Law Firm

Yaghmai Law Firm is a Los Angeles practice that represents O-1B artists, P-3 culturally unique performers, and P-1B internationally recognized entertainment groups, along with the O-2 and P support classifications. The firm describes an evidence-first method, noting that artist cases are won at the indexing stage, where each exhibit is mapped to a specific regulatory criterion before the petition is written.

Yaghmai Law Firm's strengths as a law firm are well-suited for: individual artists and performers who want a Los Angeles specialist focused on O-1B and the P classifications.

Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez (SGG Immigration)

Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez, which practices as SGG Immigration, is a Los Angeles firm with a named arts and entertainment practice area. It prepares nonimmigrant and immigrant petitions for foreign nationals in arts and entertainment, including H, O, P, and Q visas and permanent residence, covering production roles from writers and storyboard artists to visual-effects and sound work, and it runs a separate practice for athletes and sponsoring organizations.

SGG Immigration's strengths as a law firm are well-suited for: studios, productions, and organizations that want a firm with both an arts-and-entertainment group and an athletes practice.

Wilner & O'Reilly

Wilner & O'Reilly advises athletes, entertainers, and the organizations that support them, with offices across California and in Phoenix, Boise, and Salt Lake City. The firm frames its work around O-1 visas for individuals of extraordinary ability and P visas for athletes, teams, and entertainment groups.

Wilner & O'Reilly's strengths as a law firm are well-suited for: athletes, teams, and entertainment organizations that want counsel focused on sports and entertainment petitions.

What Does an Entertainment-Focused Immigration Firm Do Differently?

Entertainment cases run on the O-1B and the P, so a firm built for entertainment builds a record around recognition, drawn from reviews, credits, billing, box office, and, for athletes, rankings and results. What counts as proof changes by discipline, and a firm that knows music, film, theater, or sports maps that proof to the right legal criteria.

The timeline for these visas depends on a shoot, a season, an opening, or a tour, so the firm has to compress the path from booking to an approval, and premium processing is a common part of the plan.

The same artist or athlete may need a nonimmigrant visa now and a Green Card later, so a firm that handles O-1B and P today and EB-1 next can keep a case with one team instead of restarting it elsewhere. An O-1 petition can be filed by a U.S. employer, a U.S. agent, or a foreign employer through a U.S. agent, and a P petition can also be filed by a U.S. sponsoring organization. Agent filings are the route for a performer who arranges short-term work with several employers, and the agent has to file a complete itinerary.

What Are the 2026 USCIS Filing Fees for O-1 and P Visa Petitions?

Both O and P petitions use Form I-129, and the government fee turns on the visa type and the petitioner's size. For an O-1, the base I-129 fee is $1,055, or $530 for a nonprofit or a small employer, meaning 25 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees in the United States, including any affiliates and subsidiaries.

For a P petition, the base I-129 fee is $1,015, or $510 for a small employer or nonprofit. Beyond the base fee, an O or P petition also requires the Asylum Program Fee: $600 for a standard petitioner, $300 for a small employer, and $0 for a nonprofit. A nonprofit O-1 filer therefore pays $530 in total, while a small employer pays $830.

Premium processing, which is optional, costs an added $2,965 and commits USCIS to take adjudicative action within 15 business days. That action can be an approval, a denial, a request for evidence, or a notice of intent to deny, and a request for evidence stops and resets the clock. These fees are current as of August 3, 2026 (USCIS Form G-1055, edition 05/29/26). Always confirm the current schedule in USCIS Form G-1055, as these fees are subject to change.

Build Your Entertainment Immigration Case With Manifest

Whether the client is a soloist, a touring group, or an athlete, the right firm is the one that knows the evidence your field is judged on, prices the work so you can plan it, and can carry a case from an O-1B or P through to a Green Card without a mid-stream firm change.

Manifest is built for that path: a dedicated O-1 and P practice, flat per-case pricing, a free evaluation before you commit, a second-attorney review on every petition, and attorneys averaging more than 11 years backed by former USCIS officials. Talk to Manifest's team about an O-1B or P case.

Frequently Asked Questions

What visa options do artists, performers, and athletes have in 2026?

Individual artists in the arts, motion pictures, or television pursue the O-1B. Athletes pursue the O-1A, which covers extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, and athletics. The P categories cover P-1A for internationally recognized athletes, who can qualify individually, P-1B for members of internationally recognized entertainment groups, P-2 for reciprocal exchange programs, and P-3 for culturally unique performers. The O-2 classification covers someone coming solely to assist an O-1 artist or athlete's performance, and P support personnel take the same P classification as the principal on a separate petition. EB-1A is the extraordinary-ability route to a green card. Which path fits comes down to the person or group's field and record.

What is the difference between an O-1B and a P visa?

The O-1B covers an individual with extraordinary ability in the arts, or a record of extraordinary achievement in motion pictures or television, and it is judged on that person's own record. The P categories are event-oriented, and only P-1B is strictly group-based: P-1A covers internationally recognized athletes, who can qualify individually on their own reputation, P-1B covers members of internationally recognized entertainment groups, P-2 covers reciprocal exchange programs, and P-3 covers culturally unique performers, individually or as part of a group. Essential support personnel take the same P classification as the principal, filed on a separate petition. In short, the O-1B centers on one individual, while the P categories are built around recognized athletes, groups, and specific performances or competitions.

Can a production company, team, or venue sponsor these visas?

Yes. An O-1 petition has no minimum company size or revenue requirement, and neither do the P categories generally. One exception is that the P-1A professional-athlete route requires the employing team to belong to an association of six or more professional sports teams with combined annual revenues over $10 million, or to be a minor league affiliate of one. A production company, team, venue, or presenter can petition for an artist or athlete, as long as the role and the beneficiary's record meet the classification's requirements. An O-1 petition can also be filed by a U.S. agent, and a P petition by a U.S. agent or a U.S. sponsoring organization, which is the route for a performer who arranges short-term work with several employers or a tour.

Planning an O-1B or P case for an artist, performer, or athlete? Book a free candidate evaluation with Manifest Law for an attorney-reviewed read on your options before you commit.

Disclaimer. This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it, or contacting Manifest Law through this site, does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law changes frequently, and the information here is current only as of the publication date. For advice on your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This communication is attorney advertising.