Latest news with #O-1B
Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Love Island star wants to 'start again' as she ditches the UK and moves abroad
Love Islander Abigail Rawlings left the villa in 2021, after being coupled up with Dale Mehmet, but she's flying solo as she leaves the UK to start her 'new life' in Los Angeles Love Island star Abigail Rawling s has packed up and ditched the UK for a "new start" in Los Angeles, after leaving the villa in 2021. The tattoo artist was paired up with Toby Aromolaran in the seventh series of ITV's reality dating show, when she entered on day 24. But he dumped her when he met Mary Bedford in Casa Amor, with Abi recoupling with Dale Mehmet. They were dumped from the villa on day 42, with Abi revealing two weeks after the series ended that she'd got back with her ex, David Aboro Fitzpatrick, and they were living together. However, Abi appears to be single again, having moved stateside to begin her adventure in the US. She's shared her journey on Instagram, posting a series of snaps showing off her new life in LA. Abi, 31, wrote: "So today is officially my third week living in LA.. i'll be dead honest and admit it's been way more challenging than I ever expected it to be. I haven't been posting much on the grid cause honestly it's been mainly pretty boring life stuff, tryna get set up in a new country ain't no joke. "I mean literally no one said it was gonna be easy.. but FECK America why you gotta make everything so dam tricky?? ahahah." She continued: "I'd say I've spent majority of my time here so far feeling overwhelmed and stressed lol. "But as of yesterday, I finally got my SSN number through (something I discovered you can't do anything without it here) so now I can finally make a start on finding my own little apartment and create my own little safe space to start building my foundations for my new lil dream LA life. But regardless of how hard it's been to adjust so far, I'm still unbelievably grateful for this opportunity to start again and even more grateful for the beautiful souls I'm so lucky to have in my life that love and support me endlessly." The star revealed in April she had lined up a job at Sashatattooing Gallery in the city, a female owned studio. Abi will also be doing guest slots at Be More You, another tattoo parlour in LA. Abi thanked the owners of her new studios, saying she would "forever be so unbelievably grateful for you guys helping make this wild opportunity of starting my new lil dream life in LA possible." She also explained how she made her dream of living in Los Angeles come true, saying she "girl bossed so hard I somehow manifested my dream life into my reality." Abi added: "For 8 months solid, I visualised myself sitting in this exact spot whilst doing my admin work .. and now here I am sitting in that spot today. Whatever goal you're tryna achieve right now, just a lil reminder that you've absolutely got this." She also posted a video telling her followers how the move caused "new heights to my stress levels". One of her hashtags on the post said she had an O-1B visa. This kind of visa is for "individuals who have extraordinary ability in the arts or have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry". They can work in the US on the visa, which is a "nonimmigrant" category, with dual intent - this means applicants can pursue a green card at the same time granting them permanent residency.
The Guardian
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Australian comedian ditches US trip due to concern she could be denied entry over Trump jokes
An award-winning Australian comedian has cancelled a planned trip to the US after receiving legal advice that she could be stopped at the border due to her previous jokes about the Trump administration. Alice Fraser, who has appeared on Australia's ABC and the BBC and toured internationally, was due to head to New York in the first week of May to promote her recently published book. She planned to apply for an O-1B visa, which permits comedians to live and work in the US if they demonstrate 'extraordinary ability' in the arts. But after widespread reports of people being denied entry to the US and travellers being detained, Fraser sought advice from an immigration lawyer. 'I asked [the lawyer] what I thought was a ridiculous question – that I do political satire and have a fair few jokes floating around on Elon Musk and Donald Trump, and whether that would be a risk,' Fraser told Guardian Australia. 'I thought I was being paranoid, but she said it might [pose a risk] and they'd almost certainly Google me. She said while the vast majority of people will be able to travel in and out … they're definitely doing increased scrutinising. 'If I didn't have two children, I might be more open to taking a risk, but the vision of me being there with a baby strapped to me and held up and hassled, or worse … I'm not up for that.' According to immigration law group Reeves 'the US government is relying on social media screening more and more during the vetting process to gather extensive information', noting an online presence offers insights into 'interests, associations and potential security concerns'. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Foreigners have had their devices searched at the US border and been denied entry, including a French scientist who had messages on his phone critical of Donald Trump. Travellers have been incarcerated in Ice detention centres and held for weeks, including Germans Lucas Sielaff, Fabian Schmidt and Jessica Brösche; British graphic artist Rebecca Burke and Canadian businesswoman Jasmine Mooney. Fraser has been a regular critic of Trump as a contributor to political podcasts and radio shows, telling the Sydney Morning Herald in 2020: 'I wouldn't take an IOU from Trump if he wrote it on the money he owed me.' She appeared at the Melbourne International comedy festival this week as part of the satirical political podcast A Rational Fear – billed as a 'federal election special' or a 'how to evade deportation' special. Fraser lived and worked in the US on an internship visa more than a decade ago. She said the planned May visit was a 'real opportunity' to promote her book, but travellers now 'don't know what to expect'. 'There's a sense of unreality, this country which has presented itself as very stable, in terms of freedom of speech, is now behaving very unpredictably,' she said. 'People who have always been OK will probably still be OK but people on the margins will be discouraged – and that's disappointing. You lose the voices around the edges.' Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion According to Smartraveller, which provides advice on behalf of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, an ESTA or valid visa allows travellers to board a US-bound plane or request entry at a land border but doesn't guarantee entry to the US. Smartraveller notes customs and border protection have strict requirements and 'broad powers' for temporary detainment or deportation when assessing eligibility. 'Officials may ask to inspect your electronic devices, emails, text messages or social media accounts. If you refuse, they can deny your entry,' it states. 'You may be held at the port of entry or a nearby detention facility. The Australian government cannot intervene on your behalf, and our ability to provide consular assistance in these circumstances may be limited.' Even if granted entry, the US may keep devices for months if a traveller refuses to unlock them. Fraser said she wouldn't stop making jokes but she also wanted to return to the US. 'I will go to the America that will have me, when it's no longer reasonable for a visa lawyer to say I should purge my social media before I go there because a joke about Elon Musk might be considered hostile to the nation,' she said.
