In this episode, Shai and Roderick finally get made by discussing what kind of visa a Mafia enforcer from Italy named Furio could have had during his integral run on the HBO all-time classic drama, The Sopranos. The immigration principles they will explore include the H-3 trainee visa classification. Plus, our co-hosts chat about their favorite organized crime focused television shows and movies.
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Show Notes
Welcome to The Hasta La Visa, Baby podcast, a deep-dive into the relationship between U.S. immigration law and fictitious characters from some of your favorite television shows and movies. Hosted by Gibney Immigration group attorneys Shai Dayan and Roderick Potts, each episode focuses on a particular character from a well-known show or film and guides listeners through an in-depth and entertaining exploration into the possible U.S. visa status that the featured character may have held while in the U.S. Listeners will learn about key immigration considerations through the prism of the fun and fictitious worlds presented in television and film.
Today, Shai and Roderick discuss what is arguably one of the greatest shows ever: The Sopranos! The show debuted in 1999 and ran for 6 seasons on HBO, and it is an Italian-American crime drama that focused on a northern New Jersey mafia family led by Tony Soprano. After sharing interesting facts about this powerhouse of original content, Shai and Roderick transition to the character of focus for the episode. This character is an Italian national named Furio, a business contact of Tony’s family who comes to the US to work for Tony’s crew under the guise of employment at Artie’s restaurant. Tony specifically asks Artie to work out immigration details for Furio, so we know that, while Tony doesn’t care about much, he cares something about immigration!
As far as visas are concerned, Shai and Roderick expect that a training visa would have been the best fit for Furio, and they zero in on the H3 training visa as a contender. The visa allows a trainee in a field of endeavor other than graduate medical training who cannot receive the requisite training in his/her own country to be invited by a sponsoring individual or organization to receive training in the US for up to 2 years.
Furio could have qualified for the visa, Shai and Roderick think, but he may have faced trouble because of his criminal involvement and expertise in cheese-making. Shai and Roderick plan their hypothetical consultation to be a meeting between them and Artie, because the sponsor is as important to consult with as is the individual! Shai and Roderick would focus on making sure Artie understood the seriousness of sponsoring someone and that he had an actual training program set up for Furio. The episode wraps up with final takeaways and a hint about next month’s episode on Santa Claus!
Links:
Learn more about the show featured in this episode: The Sopranos.
Learn more about the H-3 Nonimmigrant Trainee visa.
Learn more about Shai Dayan, Roderick Potts, and Gibney Anthony & Flaherty, LLP.
Connect with us at hastalavisa@gibney.com.
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