U.S. Citizen Entering a Foreign Competition?

[OverDriver]

I'm an aspiring race car driver, and Nissan has launched a competition/driver development program with Sony's popular "Gran Turismo" driving simulator game. I'm fully qualified to enter the competition, with one exception - it's only being held in the following countries:

* UK
* Ireland
* France
* Switzerland
* Italy
* Germany
* Austria
* Denmark
* Norway
* Finland
* Sweden
* Spain
* Portugal
* Netherlands
* Belgium
* Australia
* New Zealand

...and I'm born-and-raised in the United States. Is there any way I could legally participate? Is there any way I could gain legal residency status quickly enough to be eligible (I've got a little over one month)? And, finally, if it is possible, what type of law firm would be the most appropriate to reach out to help me get everything sorted out?

[LawResearcherMissy]

I'm fully qualified to enter the competition, with one exception - it's only being held in the following countries:

Then you're not "fully qualified". It's only open to residents of the listed countries.

The page notes that there will be a separate event for gamers in other countries.

Is there any way I could gain legal residency status quickly enough to be eligible (I've got a little over one month)?

You don't even have time to gain a visitor's visa, let alone establish residency.

No country is going to allow you to establish residency solely to be able to compete in a video game tournament, in any case. There's a lot more to establishing residency than simply turning up and saying "Hi, I'd like to live here to play video games."

[KeyWestDan]

Without going into details, as it is pointless, the answer is NO, NOT A CHANCE. You can hire the best lawyer in Europe and it will not do you any good whatsoever. Even if you are rich, it still will not do you any good.

This contest is likely to come to the U.S. sooner or later. Just watch for it.