Entertainers & Academics O1 Visas and EB1 Green Cards
Whether you’re a Musician, Technician, Film Maker or Set Designer, Photographer or Researcher, the O1 visa option and EB1 Green Card could be for you.
– Welcome
– Business Investors – E2 Visa
– Entertainers & Academics
– Graduate Visas – H-1B Visa
– Fiancee and Marriage
– Immigration Reform
The O1 visa and the EB1 green card are both designed to help those people who consider themselves at the top of their profession. US Immigration calls these people aliens of extraordinary ability. Aliens of extraordinary ability can come from any professional field, from the academic, arts, sports and business community. The O1 visa is for aliens who are looking to come to the US quickly to take up a project on offer immediately, while the EB1 green card is for people who are looking to settle in the US permanently. I often find myself doing O1 visas first and then after a while progressing the client to the EB1 green card. However, I’d say that about half of my EB1 green card business comes from people who have never had an O1 visa but clearly qualify for the EB1 green card. Please check out my O1 visa and EB1 checklists to see if you qualify.
What I’d like to focus on here is the amount of work that goes into these cases. Ok, anyone can say that they are “the best thing since sliced bread”, but USCIS will not believe you unless you meticulously document your accomplishments.
When we take on an O1 visa or EB1 green card clients are taken aback by the amount of work involved. There are two types of O1/EB1 candidates. First there are the national and international award winners, we’re talking about the aliens who have won some major award such as a BAFTA, Tony, Olivier, Ivor Novello, SAG, Directors Guild, Emmy and such like. These candidates are very much a “shoe in” but you still have to make the case. Then there are the rest of us who have done very well but may not have reaped the accolades to that extent but are no less worthy of the O1 visa or EB1 green card. Clients in this second category have to work twice as hard to win their cases, but win them we do.
If you have been published in a peer reviewed journal or sat as a peer reviewer these are excellent indicators EB1 suitability for those in the academic field.
Most of our successful O1 visa and EB1 green card clients have not won any award, these clients have distinguished themselves according to the required categories that must be satisfied and we have worked hard with the client to document everything to prove the point. For example, we work with a lot of fashion designers in New York, the fashion capital of America. Many of these clients have had celebrities wear their clothes featured in a top magazine or their clothes have been features in a major catalogue or major cat walk show like New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Week and so forth. For every designer that has achieved those things we have to have the client track down their original production drawing, find the magazine it ultimately appeared in, find out the circulation of that magazine, draft a mini statement about how their work made it from drawing to Magazine, or drawing to cat walk and so forth. Imagine repeating that a dozen times and you can begin to get an idea as to how tedious this work can be. I personally have to scrutinize every single piece of evidence and weigh its value to make sure that only the best of your evidence is ever submitted.
It never ceases to amaze me that win the hard work is done, what started out as a good potential O1 visa / EB1 green card case, can build into a great case that USCIS will ultimately approve.
USCIS is very strict and tough in approving these cases and sometimes, you may have to go 2-3 rounds with them to ultimately have them grant your visa. This is especially true for the EB1 green card, but once they grant your green card it’s yours for life.
The O1 visa and EB1 green card has grown to the point where it accounts for 50% of our entire practice. This percentage is growing because of the amount of referral business we’re getting. You can imagine the situation where two aliens are working on a set and start sharing their immigration stories and then ultimately my names comes up and how I got them their visa or green card and then we get the referral. So it’s really important to me that we only take on cases that we feel confident we can win and feel confident that the client has the commitment in time and money to work the case all the way through the system even if USCIS initially say no, which can happen.
Sometimes I feel USCIS says no initially just to find out how badly you want the approval, they will often ask for additional evidence and then we have to do a lot more work to get the approval. I find that if you refuse to take no for answer, ultimately USCIS will give you another answer – yes!
If you’re interested in exploring this option talk to me, I’d be happy to review this with you without charge.
- US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ – Admitted in New York
Practice Specializing in US Immigration Law
520 Broadway, Suite 350,
Santa Monica, California 90401
Tel: 310 492 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