EB1 Green Card Success – Manjula – Bharatnatyam Classical Dancer – India

Congratulations to Manjula on your EB1 Green Card Success for Classic Indian Dancing.

Today we are celebrating another sweet victory for getting an EB1 green card for  Indian dancer – Manjula. Winning cases is our life’s blood, every win brings brings to life the American Dream for another family. We must win.
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We like to invite our clients to share their stories as to how by working very hard and very closely together we are able to win these cases. What makes the difference. Winning Indian Dance cases is very challenging, you have to have the right blend of evidence and if you do not have it you must be prepared to do what ever it takes to get it.
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If you can get us precisely what we need we’ll win, it’s that simple.  Read now Sandhya’s Testimonial Interview.

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Sandhya’s Story 

1. Tell me about where you are from and a little bit about what you do.

Advice – Getting a great portfolio of publicity photos of your performing is key. Flyers, Programs & Brochures and tickets.

From Sydney, Australia a professional Indian Bharatnatyam Classical Dancer, founder and artistic director.

My dance career spans over 20 years, starting to perform at 5 years of age in India and as a professional across Australia, USA & Singapore. My goal has always been to get Indian classical dance accessible to audiences in Australia.
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My journey has been amazing to a point where I was able to do just this but more importantly donate financially towards assisting charity organizations reach their philanthropic goals.

2. How did you work your way up the ranks to reach your level and what were some of the challenges along the way.

Advice – You must have press featuring your performances. No press, No green card, as this a key way USCIS will know how good you really are.

Only with sheer hard work, sustained dedication, passion and commitment did I achieve my dreams. I never forget that there is so much more to learn, a lot more to achieve and that hunger drives me forward. Walking into the unknown in Australia was my biggest challenge.
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Dance dreams in my mind and holding onto hope were two things that supported me.
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I literally starting from nothing and built a successful dance career in Australia producing, choreographing many full-length dance drama productions. I have been teaching a generation of young kids to adults for the past 20 years.

3. Have you ever lived in the US before? If so, under what circumstances? If not, what aroused your interest in a move to the US?

I have never lived in the US before but have always loved this country visiting on numerous occasions covering both the east and west coasts for my dance performances and family holidays catching up with relatives & friends. Having seen the young generation and their eagerness to learn dance was motivating enough for me to set my sights towards the US.

4. How did you decide to pursue an EB1?

My US family relatives suggested I look at EB1 as an ideal option. When I researched this topic on the internet, I did come across people with extraordinary ability using the EB1 route. It took me less than a minute to Google search “Indian Dancers EB1”. This brought me straight to Chris Ingram’s offices website and rest is history.

5. What was your experience with the EB1 petition process?

Advice – Never give up, focus on the prize of a green card for you and your family and what it will mean for them for life. So dig deep and get it done.

I had to put in the hard yards but I always believed in my ability 100 percent. The EB1 process is daunting at first but when you work towards understanding, satisfying the criteria it gets better. If for example as a performing artist it helps your EB1 petition to showcase your art in a famous venue try and do exactly that.
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My journey in life is always dance but I use this as a platform to support charitable organizations and help people. This is an area where I was unique as compared to others.
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Show you are different it is important to concentrate on gathering evidence from the most prestigious sources possible. One needs to hit the right notes and the probability of success goes up a notch. You need to deliver what the team at Chris Ingram want.

6. What were some of the challenges you had to work on in the preparation of your case, for example evidence gathering?

Advice – Letters from your Gurus will certainly help, talk to Chris and his team as to put to put these together.

My first challenge was to understand the EB1 categories that suit me as a classical dancer, then grasp what is involved and finally think from a USCIS officers point of view what they would want to see.
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Expert advice & guidance from the team at Chris Ingram was an important milestone. Most importantly I had always maintained evidence on all my dance performances, all my theatrical production work, press reviews, DVD, videos, dance photos, ticket sales and awards going back many years.
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I made sure my website showcased my entire story and I was able to deliver to Chris and Team on what they were looking for.

7. What kind of relationship did/do you have Chris and his team?

Great team fantastic experience these guys know what it takes. I must thank Amrita who worked with me for months answering questions collating information, Tomas for his expert advice and patience and not to forget Tanya, Alicia, Lindsey and Chris himself who took time answering many emails. I cannot wait to meet these awesome people. You are half way there in your EB1 journey when you choose Chris and team.

8. What were you doing when you found out you were approved? What was your immediate reaction? How did/will you celebrate?

Again – Having a great set of pictures is very important, but great live performance pictures are even better. Especially of you performing solo – that’s huge too.

I was choreographing my next theatrical dance production well past midnight. It was 1am in Sydney when I saw an email pop up from USCIS offices. My heart skipped a beat as I gathered courage to read the email. The words “we approved your form I-140” was enough to send me into a frenzy as all the hard work for the past 7 months now had value. This moment was so surreal it can only be understood when it happens to you. Getting an approval in 8 days was something I could not comprehend. I had read so many success stories and to be a part of Chris Ingram approval gallery is mind boggling. Celebrations have not stopped and we plan to fly down to Hawaii one of our favorite places.

9. What are you looking forward to most about moving to the US?

Finally, I can look forward to starting my new challenge using Dance to perform, teach, support charities and hopefully inspire younger generations. Catching up with my cousins meeting childhood friends would be something special and all this as a US permanent resident is the icing on the cake.

10. What will you miss the most about your home country?

Australia gave me hope, supported my dance passion and provided a superb life style to my family. Sydney will always be special my daughter was born here and we take our memories with us. The years of sweat will come to an end, the numerous friends and the bond will be missed.

11. What advice would you give to any immigrant considering an EB1 or who is already in the process?

Believe in yourself it’s very important as this will carry you to your dreams. Your extraordinary ability should speak for itself but make sure you back it up with solid evidence. Choosing Chris Ingram and team is your next big win, work with them do not hesitate to provide more evidence. Do not hold back flood your evidence the more the better when it comes to EB1. Now is not the time to be humble. You need to have an obsession to go for gold and get your EB1.

Select Your 3 EB1 Categories

Checkout these EB1 green card categories below. If you can satisfy three categories, then you may just qualify for your green card. Good luck.

EB1 – Green Card – Checklist Summary

EB1 – One Time International Award

EB1 – Visa Award Nomination or Win

EB1 – Invited Memberships

EB1 – Publications About You

EB1 – Participation on Judging Panel

EB1 – Innovation or Invention

EB1 – Published Scholarly Articles

B1 – Exhibitions and Showcases

EB1 – Leading or Critical Roles

EB1 – High Salary or Remuneration

EB1 – Commercial Success in Arts

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EB1 – Ok Let’s Get Started

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Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram

US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ – Immigration Attorney
Admitted in New York.
Practice Specializing in US Immigration Law
401 Wilshire Boulevard, 12th Floor,
Santa Monica,
California 90401
Tel: 310 496 4292

Specializing in the E2 Visa, EB1 Green Card, L-1A Visa and O1 Visa and K1 Visa Marriage-Based Immigration. Attorney Chris M. Ingram is dedicated to providing the very best in US Immigration legal representation. Enjoy our website.

Important Notice: Please note that all videos created by the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram are intended as general information only and not specific legal advice pertaining your case. If you would like specific legal advice on any immigration matter please do not hesitate to contact this law office accordingly. All pictorial images used in these videos and the website in general are licensed stocked images and not portraits, or otherwise, of anyone from the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram, nor of its clients unless otherwise indicated by name. All images are used solely for illustrative purposes only. Copyright 2010-2015 All Rights Reserved.