Starcraft II Player Receives US Athlete Visa

For those people who have always maintained the idea that gaming is a sport there is now proof! We can now officially call ourselves athletes since 23 year old professional StarCraft 2 player Kim "ViOLet" Dong Hwan recently obtained a P1-A visa from the U.S. government.

The P-1A visa is for internationally recognised athletes. The visa regulations state that the individual must be:

coming to the United States to participate in an individual event, competition or performance in which you are internationally recognized with a high level of achievement; evidenced by a degree of skill and recognition substantially above that ordinarily encountered so that the achievement is renowned, leading or well known in more than one country

South Korean Hwan is now recognised as a professional athlete and his visa will allow him to live, compete in tournaments and earn a salary in the U.S. for up to five years. Having been denied a visa before he was relieved and excited to be able to finally compete in U.S. based Starcraft II tournaments. He said

I've been so jealous when other Koreans traveled to the USA for tournaments," he said. "I have been trying to go to [the] USA as well, but I got denied three times, and I was almost ready to give up ... really almost. It was lots of drama. But my manager found out another last way, and we worked hard together. If we got denied this last time too, yeah, I would pretty much have to retire...

Hwan's acceptance follows Canadian-based League of Legends player Danny "Shiptur"  who was approved for the same visa earlier this year.