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How did US visa rules for models in the 1990s apply to Melania Knauss’s migration and work authorization?
Executive summary
Public records obtained and reporting by The Associated Press show Melania Knauss was paid for 10 U.S. modeling jobs totaling $20,056 in the seven weeks before she held a work visa, which reporters say occurred while she was present on a B‑1/B‑2 visitor entry that “allowed her to be in the U.S. and look for work but not to perform paid work” [1] [2]. Reporters and immigration lawyers in later accounts say working on a B visa is “technically unauthorized” and could have made her subject to removal then or under stricter enforcement policies, though other actors involved — including a former agent and Melania’s lawyers — disputed or contextualized those findings [3] [4] [5].
1. What the contemporaneous documents show: ledger entries and dates
The Associated Press obtained 1996‑97 modeling agency ledgers, contracts and related documents that list 10 paid U.S. assignments for Melania Knauss, totaling about $20,056, occurring in the seven weeks before AP and other outlets say she held legal permission to work in the U.S. [1]. AP framed those payments as occurring during a period when her visa status did not permit paid employment, and other outlets repeated that timeline [3] [2].
2. Which visas the reporting says were in play — and what they permitted
Multiple news reports identify the entry status at issue as a B‑1/B‑2 visitor visa (commonly described as “tourist/business”), which allows presence in the U.S. for tourism or certain business activities but not for performing paid labor; AP and business reporting summarized that a B‑visa “allowed her to be in the U.S. and look for work but not to perform paid work in the country” [2] [1]. Later, Melania obtained other immigration statuses: reporting notes she secured a work visa in October 1996 and later an EB‑1 “extraordinary ability” green card in 2001 [5] [6].
3. How 1990s practice in modeling complicated enforcement
Journalists and immigration lawyers told outlets that informal or industry norms made short, paid modeling gigs hard to police — enforcement then depended on detection (e.g., pay stubs at the border) and was uneven — so technically unauthorized B‑visa work often went unnoticed [5] [7]. Slate and Business Insider explained that while the conduct would violate B‑visa rules, catching it required immigration scrutiny that didn’t always occur in practice [5] [7].
4. Disputes and defenses from agents and lawyers
A former modeling agent, Paolo Zampolli, maintained he sponsored Knauss for a work visa and said she obtained authorization before modeling professionally in the U.S.; Melania’s campaign and legal representatives repeatedly pushed back against suggestions she violated rules, and some reporting noted that official immigration files are not public, leaving gaps in the public record [4] [8]. AP’s reconstruction relies on agency internal records; defenders questioned document authenticity or interpretation in contemporaneous responses [3] [4].
5. Later immigration approvals and the “Einstein/EB‑1” angle
Melania later obtained permanent residence under the EB‑1 category (sometimes called the “Einstein visa”), a path for people of “extraordinary ability,” in 2001; outlets flagged debate over whether her résumé matched typical EB‑1 expectations and quoted both critics and her attorney defending the approval [6] [9]. Reporting notes that EB‑1 awards to Slovenian nationals were rare in that period, but the public record does not include her full immigration file to show adjudicator reasoning [10] [6].
6. Enforcement differences then vs. hypothetical policies later
Commentators pointed out that under later, more aggressive interior‑enforcement priorities (discussed in 2017 analyses) a past B‑visa violation like this could have triggered removal proceedings; legal experts told outlets that such a violation “definitely” could have led to trouble if immigration authorities discovered it [5] [7]. Available sources do not document whether any enforcement action was ever initiated against Knauss at the time or whether she sought any waiver for earlier status issues [5].
7. What remains uncertain or unreported
Public reporting is limited to agency ledgers and contemporaneous documents obtained by journalists and to statements from agents, campaign lawyers and immigration experts; official immigration case files and adjudication memos are not publicly available, so “why” specific approvals were granted or whether waivers were used cannot be confirmed from the available reporting [3] [5]. Available sources do not mention whether government adjudicators were aware of the ledger payments when later visas were issued [1] [6].
Bottom line: contemporaneous agency records and multiple news outlets report payments for U.S. modeling work before a documented work‑visa authorization and characterize that activity as inconsistent with B‑visa rules [1] [2]. At the same time, former agents, lawyers and the absence of public immigration files introduce disputes and unanswered questions about enforcement and the full administrative record [8] [4] [5].