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O-1 Visa

How to O1

Desmond Du

Last edited 128 days ago by Desmond Du

Introduction

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A small guide to help people navigate their O-1 visa petition journey. This process is written based on me embarking halfway on the O-1 petition working with SC Law Firm and advices from people who successfully gotten one. Do keep in mind the steps below can happen concurrently.

Always consult your attorney or follow their recommended guidelines on preparing your materials. This guide is meant to serve as a foundation on approaching applying for O-1.

Step-by-Step Guide

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Step 1: Prepare/update your CV

The initial step in preparing your O1 visa case is to create a CV, which should not be confused with a resume. Specifically, it is recommended to structure it with College Art Association’s

Visual Artist Curriculum Vitae: Recommended Conventions⁠

Your attorney will use this CV to evaluate the viability of your O-1 visa application and determine your eligibility before initiating the entire petition process. Additionally, you use this as a guide to prepare your portfolio. Try to make your CV using a Google Word document as this CV will be revisited and modified for the rest of your creative professional career.

You can check my guide on how to prepare your CV:

How to CV⁠

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Step 2: Consult an attorney

You should seek out an immigration attorney familiar with O-1 visa, and you can get their contact through your network or people you know. Below is a small list of lawyers:

Immigration Attorneys

Immigration Attorneys

Firm

URL

Fees

SC Law NYC

samuel@sclawnyc.co

$6000, half up front. Price increase to $7000 in 2024

Cohen Law

mcohen@cohenlawfirm.com

~$10,000

Global Talent Immigration Law Group

info@GlobelTalentLaw.com

$8000

There are no rows in this table

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Research

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O-1 Visa for Individuals of Extraordinary Ability⁠

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美國簽證二三事｜OPT，O2，O1申請過程分享⁠

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The O-1 Visa: Top 10 Misconceptions - Daryanani Law Group, PC⁠

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O-1 Visa for Independent Contractors | Processing and Requirements⁠

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Step 3: Letter of Recommendations

Depending on your attorney's specific requirements, you may need to secure approximately eight to twelve letters of recommendation from industry professionals. These professionals don't necessarily have to work in the same field; for example, someone in the VFX industry can write a letter for someone in Motion Design, and vice versa. It’s acceptable to have a school teacher write a letter, but it is not recommended.

Your attorney might request your contacts' information and draft these letters on your behalf, but it will be your responsibility to obtain their agreement and signatures. Information about your recommenders you should provide to the attorney can include:

- Full name (or a stage name, if they go by a different name)

- Job title

- Company they work at or field of expertise if they are a freelancer/independent

- What collaborations you have had together, if any, or how you know each other

Other helpful, but optional, information about your recommenders:

- A LinkedIn page, their personal website, or their CV

- Any awards that the individual has received

- Notable exhibitions, clients, or published material

Templates for reaching out

Sending Request

I'm in the midst of applying for an O-1 visa so I can stay and have better opportunities in the US. Part of the process requires me to list people down as a referral to serve as testimonial to my abilities. The referral role would be to just sign a letter of recommendation prepared by my immigration lawyer. Would you be okay with me listing you as one of my referral🙏🏻?

Response (If you don’t have the letters prepared yet)

Awesome, thank you very much ❤️! Let me followup with you in a week or two with letter of recommendation to sign. And just confirming, what name should I use in this letter?

Response (Asking for signatures)

Hey [Person]! As mentioned previously, regarding listing you as a referral for O-1 work visa, my immigration lawyer has prepared a letter of recommendation for you to sign using your company letterhead.

Can you please send it to me when you can? Thank you very much for your help!

Step 4 Portfolio

Similar to preparing your CV, you should utilize a word processor to prepare your porfolio.

Using ChatGPT to prepare your portfolio [WIP]

You can use ChatGPT Plus to search the internet to find articles for things you worked on...

Use the template below to search the Internet for [Show]:

Title: [Episode Title] ([Season Number], Episode [Episode Number] of [Show Title])

Studio/Company: [Studio/Company Name]

Role: VFX Artist

Date: [Release Date]

About the project:

Recognition, Publications, Exhibitions:

[Include any recognitions, awards, publications, or exhibitions related to the VFX work on this episode, or mention if the show or episode received notable reviews or ratings, particularly mentioning the visual effects.]

Requirements (from SC Law)

A single PDF, at least 50 pages, of evidence organized by project.

Keep any photos, screenshots, or other forms of evidence to one or two items per page, in order to make it as clear and easy to read as possible for the Service.

Many clients provide captions or cover pages between projects to provide additional context. In terms of the content itself, the Service accepts many different forms of evidence, both formal and informal; the important thing is that any claims that we make about your career or achievements are substantiated with evidence of some kind.

Key points

This is not a design portfolio in which you showcase your process or visual prowess because none of that matter to the government. You can just use a word document to prepare your case.

Prepare as much as you can, your attorney will rearrange your portfolio so it builds a stronger case.

Your evidence may be from non-US country, and you would have to translate the publication to English if necessary.

Helpful Tools

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Fireshot⁠

: Take screenshots of webpages

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Movie Print⁠

: Tale screenshots of your works/projects

Step 5: Deal memos

A deal memo is essentially a letter indicating a company's intention to provide future work opportunities, but it's important to note that the government does not verify its fulfillment. Nevertheless, obtaining deal memos from your professional connections is a valuable practice.

Your deal memos can be signed by any individuals or organizations in the U.S. interested in working with you, as long as they together:

cover the full three years of your O1 visa

estimate an average annual salary of at least $20,000.

Miscellaneous

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Visa Agents

Your LLC can sponsor your visa petition, as long as you own a 50% or less interest in the business (not revenue).

Who can qualified to be an agent

A U.S. agent may be your actual employer, the representative of both you and the employer, or a person or entity authorized by the employer to act for, or in place of, the employer as its agent. Detailed information regarding USCIS policy relating to agent petitioners can be found in the USCIS Policy Manual Volume 2, Part M, Chapter 3.

Filing as an agent is not the same as filing as an employer. You will be required to present additional evidence to the USCIS in order to establish your legitimacy and your role as an agent. For example, you will need to show under section 8 CFR 214.2(o)(2)(iv)(E) whether you are filing as the beneficiary’s functioning employer, whether you are filing on behalf of multiple employers that you represent for one beneficiary, or whether you are filing for a foreign employer. Speak with your immigration attorney to ensure that you are adhering to the requirements.

Visa sponsorship companies

If you find yourself stuck on the sponsor question, it is worth noting that there are companies that exist solely to sponsor visa applicants. They neither help nor harm the chances of your petition, and can be an easy option if you're looking for something with minimal fuss. However, they do charge an annual fee for the service.

Service center

The location of your sponsor plays a significant role in determining which service center, either in Vermont or California, your O1 case will be directed to.

A sponsor's location is determined not by where it was incorporated, but instead by its current mailing address. A Georgia-based LLC would still send your case to California. This would result in longer delivery time as your petition needs to be mailed in.

If you are in the east coast, it is recommend looking for a sponsor individual or organization who is based in a location covered by the Vermont Service Center. These locations include Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. You can find more information

here⁠

Tips

Join a union - big help for O1 application eg. VES, AIGA

FAQs

Fees involved:

Legal cost: $3000-$10,000 (depending on your legal firm)

The standard processing fee of an O1 visa is $460. If you opt for premium processing, you will have to spend an additional $1,410 on top of the standard fee. The USCIS holds the right to either approve or deny your case. It can also ask for additional evidence (RFE).

Is there any specific number requirements of artwork for O1 applicators?

Does an O-1 visa require a sponsor (the company you’re working with?) And if so, would you have to stay with the company while under that visa?

How many proof do we need to build O-1 case (assuming projects that were published/giving a talk/articles etc maybe?)

How long before my OPT ends should I ideally start preparing to apply for my O type visa? 4 to 6 months talk to the lawyer

For the credentials, to show extraordinary ability, do all the publications/awards have to be for the same exact field? Or can they be from any field (like, past work in the sciences, and current publications in different art fields, etc.)?

How to prepare for O-1 ⚠️

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Preparing an O-1 visa petition can be challenging and quite meticulous, but it's possible to start the preparation process while you're still in school or during the early stages of your Optional Practical Training (OPT) when you begin your job.

If you are in school, you can:

Submit your work to competitions or publications

Work in project that will receive a lot of media attention eg. SCAD FASH Show, SCADPro projects

If you are working, you can:

Develop a system/spreadsheet/database that allows you to tracks ALL the projects you done for the company, noting down:

your role

date and

duration of the project

description of the projects

images of the projects/evidence

Update IMDB with the movie/films you worked on

Getting letter of attestation

It's possible that you may not receive proper credit for projects you've worked on within the company. However, you can request a signed letter from your supervisor or director to ensure proper recognition and documentation of your contributions.

For example, I participated in CoMotion for five years with different level of contribution, so I sought out the club faculty advisor to signed a letter attesting on the things I done.

Resources

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IVIS- Intl Info Sharing Group :D⁠

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Introduction

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Prepare/update your CV

Step 2: Consult an attorney

Immigration Attorneys

Step 3: Letter of Recommendations

Visa sponsorship companies

Service center

Tips

FAQs

How to prepare for O-1 ⚠️

Getting letter of attestation

Resources

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