O-1B High Salary/Remuneration

Video Transcript -In this presentation, we’re going to focus on the O1 visa category ‘Significant Recognition from Organizations, Critics and Experts’. Ok – let’s first go over the precise wording of this category and then break it down from there. The actual official wording of this category is:

Significant recognition for achievements from organizations, critics, government agencies or other recognized experts in the field in which the alien is engaged. Such testimonials must be in a form that clearly indicates the author’s authority, expertise, and knowledge of the alien’s achievements;

This is a category that expressly allows us to obtain letters from peers and experts to weigh in on their assessment of your skills. There are no hard and fast rules as to how many letters should be sought, and it does take some considerable legal skill and discussions with clients to ensure that any letters sought for are carefully written to address precisely what USCIS need addressing.

It’s unfortunate that I have reviewed many signed letters that are completely “blah”, and praises without substance. Then I have to re-work the letter and ask the client to try and get the letter re-signed. As you can imagine, by which time that person might be fed up because they’re so busy and you might not get a second shot.

Although letters for an O1 visa case are permissible, any O1 visa that is too heavily weighted by opinion letters will most likely fail, since USCIS will undermine the veracity of the case if the case is not equally weighted with evidence that cannot be solicited, such as press coverage or award wins. Therefore it’s very important that we use peer letters judiciously, and without any over reliance.

If you have any press coverage where critics have recognized you with critical acclaim then one such article is worth any five peer letters we might be able to submit, let alone if you have multiple press articles specifically showering you with praise. For some aliens, we may only have letters for this category – that’s ok, but I’d be looking very closely at the strength of the other categories to make sure that, overall, the case was well balanced.

Some professionals work for government agencies, and letters of praise confirming excellent work is highly valuable because government agencies are like the press. The alien has very little influence over what the government agency might say. However, since many aliens will solicit letters from their peers with whom they worked within a government agency to draft the letters, the status and impact of a government letter of support is highly significant. In essence whatever a government agency puts on its letterhead is deemed factually accurate more so than what a buddy writes for his alien O1 visa applicant buddy.

An essential part of our work with our clients is to use our best endeavors to tease out the right type of evidence USCIS will accept. Because of my experience in this particular field, we have a good body of prior approved cases to reference to in this area, and USCIS policy is constantly evolving so we’re monitoring the progress of each case carefully to ensure that your case will be finely tuned to today’s O1 visa requirements.

We hope you found this presentation not only informative but inspirational too. Our goal is to inspire our clients into action and continued success. Take some time to review our testimonials; we’re looking forward to adding many more. Maybe yours will be featured there one day, so you too can be an inspiration to others. We’ll be waiting for your call. In the next presentation, we’re going to review the ‘High Salary or Other Substantial Remuneration’ category.

Chris M. Ingram, a U.S. Immigration Attorney, is originally from Northampton, England. He earned his BA (Hons) in Law from De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, in 1994. In 1996, he completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (PGDLP) at De Montfort School of Law, followed by a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Huddersfield University, UK, in 1998. After relocating to the United States, Chris was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2003 and has been a proud member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) since 2004.

Having experienced the U.S. immigration process firsthand with his wife and three children, Chris M. Ingram founded his law firm with a mission to ensure that every client receives the best possible immigration experience. He recognized the need for accessible and comprehensive immigration education, leading him to develop one of the most informative online platforms available today.

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