O1 Visa Attorney Chris M. Ingram Asks Have You Received Significant Recognition from Experts, Critics or the Press? *

O1 Visa Specialist – Getting any plaudits from your peers is always a good thing. You may need to obtain testimonial letters from experts and professionals who can vouch for your expertise and standing within your industry. If you have any press they may achieve the same thing. Let’s talk about it and discuss what you may have now or may need to develop in the future.

5. 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; 101(a)(15)(o) and 8 CFR § Sec. 214(o).

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 discuss with clients to ensure that any letters sought are carefully crafted to address precisely what USCIS need addressing. The amount of signed letters I’ve had sent to me for review that are completely “blah”: praise without substance is untrue. Then I have to re-work the letter and ask the client to try and get the letter signed again, by which time that person might be fed up because their so busy and you might not get a second shot. So it’s very important that when I work with clients that we identify and work up these letters together so the key person we need to sign the letter does so once only.

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 letter judiciously 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 letters we might be able to submit, let alone if you have multiple press article specifically showering you with praise. For some alien’s 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 the overall case was well balanced.

Some professionals work for government agencies; 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. This is not altogether true since many aliens will solicit letters from their peers with whom they worked within a government agency to draft the letters, nevertheless the status and impact of a government letter of support is highly significant because at its essence what ever a government agency puts on its letterhead is deemed factually accurate more so than what one buddy writes for his alien O1 visa applicant buddy.

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

By US Immigration Attorney Chris M Ingram
101(a)(15)(o) and 8 CFR § Sec. 214(o)
O1 Visa Specialist
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Other Chapters O1 Visa Categories:
(A) National Award Nomination or Win –
(B) 1: Leading Role In Event or Production –
(B) 2: Critical Reviews in Press –
(B) 3: Major Role in Distinguished Co’ –
(B) 4: Vital Role on Successful Project –
(B) 5: Recognition From Experts & Critics –
(B) 6: High Salary / Remuneration –
(B) 7: Other Evidence of Extraordinary Ability –

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
520 Broadway, Suite 350,
Santa Monica,
California 90401
Tel: 310 496 4292

Everyday the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram provides a comprehensive range of US Immigration expertise. We also provide a free consultation for our prospective clients. 

General Location: Santa Monica, Santa Clarita, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Serving all 50 States
Copyright 2010

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