Shera Bechard, the Canadian-born former girlfriend of Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner and 2010's Miss November for Playboy magazine, has received a genius visa, also called a O-1s and EB-1s. This type of visa is typically reserved for "individuals with extraordinary ability," according to Reuters.
Bechard was given the special visa for her work in creating "Frisky Friday," an online photo-sharing phenomenon. Chris Wright, Bechard's immigration lawyer, argued that "Frisky Friday" earned her a distinction that counts an "internationally recognized award such as a Nobel Prize" as one possible qualification.
"There's nothing in those regulations that requires you to be a genius," said Wright, who is an immigrant, himself. "It's quite condescending to say, ‘Oh, the idiot Playboy Playmates, they don't qualify.'"
The visas require that the applicant has "risen to the very top of the field of endeavor," which, some would argue, Bechard has done. She posted the first Frisky Friday photo on Twitter at the end of 2010. Now, Playboy picks a weekly winner from the young women all over the globe that tweet sexy pictures of themselves each Fridays. Bechard said that immigration officials "want to give (a visa) to someone who shows business skills," which she demonstrated by started Freaky Friday. She has also parlayed her Playboy success into other career opportunities, including a role in the 2009 film "Sweet Karma." She won an award for her role as a mute Russian.
Genius visas are a solution for many entrepreneurs who face deportation. They've been gaining popularity because of the flexibility of the definition for this type of visa, and the fact that the applicant doesn't have to prove any personal wealth or investment in the U.S. Just as important to applicants, there's no limit of O-1s that the government can give out each year. Last year, approximately 12,200 were approved, which is a big increase from the 9,478 that were awarded in 2006. The EB-1 visas have a cap of 40,000, but last year the government handed out just over half of that number. It awarded 25,000 EB-1s in 2011.
The O-1 visa allows people to stay in the United States for up to three years, and it can also be extended. The EB-1 visa is similar, but it's not intended for temporary visits. Instead the EB-1 visa leads to permanent residency.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
