The RIDE Act would create a new nonimmigrant visa category, the P-4, for mobile entertainment workers. This visa would allow temporary entry for individuals who perform functions essential to operating mobile entertainment providers—such as carnivals and circuses that travel seasonally or temporarily—provided the U.S. Department of Labor certifies that there are not enough U.S. workers to fill the positions and that hiring the foreign worker will not push down wages or worsen working conditions for U.S. workers. The bill also clarifies who counts as a “mobile entertainment worker” and who qualifies as a “mobile entertainment provider,” and it requires federal agencies to publish proposed and final rules to implement these changes within specified timeframes. Spouses and children of eligible workers could accompany them.
Key Points
- 1The bill creates a new P-4 nonimmigrant visa category under INA 101(a)(15)(P) for mobile entertainment workers, with eligibility conditioned on labor certification by the Department of Labor (DOL).
- 2A mobile entertainment worker is defined as someone entering temporarily to perform functions essential to operating a mobile entertainment provider, including transporting, assembling, operating, disassembling, and maintaining rides, games, concessions, and related equipment.
- 3A “mobile entertainment provider” includes traveling carnivals or circuses, and providers of services typically associated with carnivals/circuses (such as food and game concessions) that operate seasonally or temporarily to serve fairs, festivals, or nonprofit fundraising events.
- 4The DOL must certify that: (a) there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are available and qualified, and (b) employing the foreign worker will not adversely affect wages or working conditions for U.S. workers in similar jobs.
- 5The bill allows the spouse or child of an eligible alien described in the visa categories to accompany or join the alien.