o1 Visa Experience / Process Help

[katy01 3]

Hi everyone! I'm new here  can anyone share some experiences of o1 visas? My partner has some offers from the US, and we are looking at the o1b. he is a musician.

Please feel free to tell me anything you'd like. we are not newbies to the visa process in the US, so would just appreciate answers from anyone who wants to talk about the process specifically for o1, their experience with it, etc.

 

he has played in the best venues in London, supported v. famous people, his music gets played in restaurants/chains, airplay on BBC, and success abroad in Japan and Europe.....etc. while I won't list here everything he has done, after consultation with an attorney he meets the criteria. so just out of interest really if anyone would like to share their timelines and experiences with me, it would really help. it would help us plan and think about timings etc.

 

We are married so must go together, which means I would go under the o3 if I am correct. please feel free to share experience on this as well. 

 

thank you to anyone who wants to share and help!  so yeah - timelines, their experience, the process, steps, what you had to do, what went wrong, if it all went well and so on.....

thank you!!

Edited May 4, 2019 by katy01
forgot a detail

[Roel 7,192]

Well, most of the work needs to be done by the petitioner ( US employer).  If someone will be willing to sponsor your spouse, they need to go through the USCIS process - usually this is done by company's lawyers.  You really don't do much, beside the final interview and medical.  So all the question you have, are best to be directed towards the employers who want to sponsor your spouse and their lawyers.

 

I don't think that O1 visas are one of those DIY projects. They are also pretty rare on this forum, so not many people will be able to offer you any advise.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-individuals-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement

[Boiler 45,486]

There are Lawyers who specialise in these and know the ins and outs, something hos Management Company should be able to help with, always helps to go with those in the know.

[katy01 3]

Hey, after searching the forums I saw a few people who have done it themselves so just figured someone might want to contribute. No worries the post can be deleted if not I don’t mind

[Boiler 45,486]

I have come across some who have DIY'd, but for an O1 certainly not normal, would be the exception to the rule. Unlikely that most Musicians would have much of a legal background, but not impossible.

[US-UK 32]

O-1A with premium processing was about 6 weeks in 2017 from initial filing by our lawyer to getting the passport delivered back from the embassy post-interview. It was a ton of work on the front end to ask for letters and consolidate them and other evidence, but easy and fast after uploading it all to the lawyer to handle. 

 

The EB-1 process was more frustrating in 2018. That was more like 4 months from filing to EAD/AP combo card, and 9 months total to have the GC in hand. 

[Roel 7,192]

1 hour ago, katy01 said:

Hey, after searching the forums I saw a few people who have done it themselves so just figured someone might want to contribute. No worries the post can be deleted if not I don’t mind

You don't have to delete your post.

 

But the best advice you'll get is to get the emoployer's lawyer (or your own lawyer) to take care of this process. It's not as DIY as family based immigration. Most work related visas usually go through lawyers.

[katy01 3]

30 minutes ago, US-UK said:

O-1A with premium processing was about 6 weeks in 2017 from initial filing by our lawyer to getting the passport delivered back from the embassy post-interview. It was a ton of work on the front end to ask for letters and consolidate them and other evidence, but easy and fast after uploading it all to the lawyer to handle. 

 

The EB-1 process was more frustrating in 2018. That was more like 4 months from filing to EAD/AP combo card, and 9 months total to have the GC in hand. 

Hi! thanks a lot, this is exactly the kind of response I was looking for. just anyone who had gone through it to share how it was for them. this is very helpful so thank you. it's just nice to see roughly how it went, and how long it took. so thank you thats really helpful. we were also thinking of premium processing. I'm really surprised at the 6 weeks, wow!! that is super fast. maybe too fast for us haha. but great to know it could be around that type of time frame. I've heard without premium processing it is around 6 months or so? again no worries if no one can answer that.

 

yes we also foresee quite a bit of work to gather all the evidence and so on. how long did that part take you? we figure a few months I guess....just to make sure we can get in touch with everyone properly, they reply and so on.

May I ask what type of evidence you had to show? don't worry if you don't want to answer, and you don't have to be specific or share personal details or anything. Not looking for specific advice on what to do personally so just curiosity as to the type of things constituting evidence. 

 

if I understand correctly, did you switch to EB-1 afterwards, once in US? if so still a pretty good timeline I think? 4 months seems not long at all so thats good for you, congrats!! thank you again for your reply, really helpful to see some facts

Edited May 4, 2019 by katy01

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

For an O1 without an employer doing it for you, you are very strongly advised to get a lawyer. The lawyer will be able to tell you what kind of evidence etc is needed for your case. There are a number of threads here on O visas, including some who have significant problems (taking over a year, being denied and having to refile, etc), it will be worth your while taking the time to go through them. There are also threads from people who were successful in O1 but denied EB1, so if that’s your goal, again, it’s worth doing the research here. It will not be automatic to go from one to the next.

 

You say you are not newbies to the US visa process, so you will have found out already that you can’t work on an O3 visa. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[fs2439 46]

21 hours ago, US-UK said:

O-1A with premium processing was about 6 weeks in 2017 from initial filing by our lawyer to getting the passport delivered back from the embassy post-interview. It was a ton of work on the front end to ask for letters and consolidate them and other evidence, but easy and fast after uploading it all to the lawyer to handle. 

 

The EB-1 process was more frustrating in 2018. That was more like 4 months from filing to EAD/AP combo card, and 9 months total to have the GC in hand. 

Good to hear! My O1A was filed in june 2018 and I got the visa in Sept with premium processing after an RFE. Did it with a lawyer

 

Would you describe the EB1 process? Was there much more scrutiny? Did you consider NIW and reject it? Thank you

Edited May 5, 2019 by fs2439

[US-UK 32]

As we were confident to meet EB-1A requirements (or as confident as one can be given the vagaries of immigration) we did not consider NIW nor did our lawyer suggest it. We used premium processing and the 15 day timeline for approval was met. The frustrating wait was to receive the AP for travel. Interview was about 1 month after that and then a few more months to receive GC in the mail from our lawyer. Sorry not to be more helpful on the process. It was all done behind the scenes via counsel. We never bothered to check status online, just waited for him to call with updates at various inflection points in the process.

[fs2439 46]

On 5/6/2019 at 8:16 PM, US-UK said:

As we were confident to meet EB-1A requirements (or as confident as one can be given the vagaries of immigration) we did not consider NIW nor did our lawyer suggest it. We used premium processing and the 15 day timeline for approval was met. The frustrating wait was to receive the AP for travel. Interview was about 1 month after that and then a few more months to receive GC in the mail from our lawyer. Sorry not to be more helpful on the process. It was all done behind the scenes via counsel. We never bothered to check status online, just waited for him to call with updates at various inflection points in the process.

Thanks for your message! Im actually quite confused as marriage gc and perm process are also possibilities 🙄 Happy to hear of your success! All the best

Edited May 8, 2019 by fs2439

[ACook 4]

Hi Katie,

 

I'm on a O1-B too (photographer). It took about 3 months in total with Premium Processing, with me working on this every day until we filed. It's a lot of work to get all the supporting evidence together and find enough people to write letters. I would 100% advise on getting a lawyer who specialises in O1 visas, even better O1-B visas and make sure you get a success rate form them. I spoke to many lawyers beforehand and got all kinds of answers from them about whether I qualify or not. This is mainly due to the fact that they get paid regardless of whether or not you get your visa. This isn't cheap either, it's around $9-10k in total.

 

While you do not need an employer per-se for the O1-B, you do need job offers in the US for however long you want to use the visa for (3 year maximum). These job offers have to be continuous for those 3 years with no gaps bigger than 3-4 weeks in between, which is pretty tough for a freelance artist. You will also need a US-based sponsor (who doesn't need to but can employ you) to petition for you. A good lawyer with experience in this particular visa in your particular field can give you guidance with this, but you will need to provide the people and job offers yourself.

 

Without premium processing I think the wait is now up to a year. If you can afford to wait this long depends on your current job status and your US job offers.

 

As for the O-3 visa for you, I'm not sure you can work on that so you need to be sure you can afford this. This whole process is not cheap and once you get to the US the money spending really doesn't stop.

 

Feel free to message me with more questions.

 

[ACook 4]

Oh fab, just realised I typed that whole answer to someone who deleted their account. Nice.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

39 minutes ago, ACook said:

Oh fab, just realised I typed that whole answer to someone who deleted their account. Nice.

Might well be useful for someone else who reads this - it was a great explanation.