How to get an American visa for talented

Фото: Depositphotos

Distinctive ability in science, education, business, arts or sports. National or international recognition and desire to work in the United States. This is a general characteristic of a person who can qualify for an O-1, the so-called “gifted visa.” America loves talented people and is not at all opposed to them working for its benefit.

O-1 gives you the right to formally find a job in the United States, carry your family with you, and live in the country throughout the duration of your visa. And it can be from one to three years with the right to renew an unlimited number of times.

How to get such a visa, how many documents you need to collect, and how it fundamentally differs from a regular work visa - read the detailed instructions from ForumDaily.

From Moscow to New York - a long journey of a Russian photographer

Romance with his wife. Photo: from the personal archive

Among the numerous photos on Facebook, Roman Makhmutov has a special video for his family: an 15-second video in which he shows off a huge stack of documents. Total 780 sheets. He had to collect all this for the O-1 visa.

“I have long had the idea of ​​living and working in America. All the options I heard about were vague. And then I found out about the O-1 visa,” says Roman.

The first step the photographer took was to find a sponsoring company. She is the one who must tell Citizenship and Immigration Services that she wants to hire a specific person.

“I found a non-profit organization, the Russian-American Center Russian-American Youth Association. These are my old friends; we have known each other through work for a long time. They acted as a sponsor and said that I would represent their interests in New York,” says Roman.

Then he began to collect all the necessary information about the visa and realized that it would take a long time to prepare. At home, in Russia, Roman at that time had long been a successful photographer. Many commercial filming, social projects, photo shoots of the country's top officials, including the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. But for a visa it was necessary to collect evidence that he really is a unique professional.

“In general, these should have been evidence of my exclusivity: participation in exhibitions, membership, nominations, competitions, letters of recommendation, and so on. I began to systematically work on this. I applied for competitions and joined the Russian Union of Photographers. I worked to ensure that I had documented evidence of my talent,” explains the photographer.

Roman’s actions absolutely comply with the instructions for obtaining a O-1 visa on US Immigration Service website.

Stage one: find out which of the subspecies of the visa suits you and find a sponsor

Photo: depositphotos

У type O visa there are several options:

1. O-1A - for people with unique abilities and achievements in science, education, business and sport;
2. O-1B - for people with unique abilities in art, film and television;
3. O-2 - assistants to applicants for the first 2 subtypes of visa;
4. O-3 - Spouses and children of O-1 or O-2 visa holders.

The novel came under the category of O-1B, and his wife filed documents for O-2, since she assisted him in his work in Russia.

But a businessman from Ukraine Oleg Roginsky fell under the category of O-1A, when he successfully created his startup and sold it later to an American company for $ 10 million.

Oleg Roginsky. Photos from the personal archive

At that time he lived in Canada, but he planned to return to work in the States, so the O-1 visa became the simplest option for a young businessman.

“I was sponsored by the company to which I sold my startup (Roginsky later joined its board of directors - note ForumDaily). This happened at the time of the sale of the company and became one of my conditions,” says Oleg.

It is the sponsor company that fills in I-129 form or a petition to a foreign worker who does not claim immigrant status. This document must be completed no more than a year and no less than 45 days before the actual date of commencement of work of the applicant for a visa.

It is important to understand that the holder of an O-1 visa is tied to his employer and upon arrival in the United States simply cannot start working for another company.

“If an employer, for example, fires a person, or the latter leaves himself, he loses his status. Changing jobs is also difficult. The holder of such a visa must, while working for one employer, find another who will file a new petition before the O-1 visa holder leaves his previous position. It is necessary that there are no gaps between statuses,” says immigration lawyer Ismail Shakhtakhtinsky.

However, sponsorship of an O-1 visa is significantly different from sponsorship of an H1B work visa. “For H1B, the company must prove that you are necessary and that no one in America can take your place - that is, there are no employees like you in the USA. But the O-1 principle is completely different: the visa itself already implies that you are unique, and the company does not need to prove anything. They already know that you are cool and they want you,” explains Oleg Roginsky.

In addition, there is also a lottery for the H1B visa. Since there are always more applicants than such visas, the competition can be 1 in 10. “Imagine that the sponsoring company has to pay $5 thousand, endure six months of paperwork, and in the end, it is not a fact that the employee will be allowed into the United States,” continues Oleg.

There are no quotas for the O-1 visa. And the monetary risk is very small. Essentially, all the sponsor needs to do is provide you with a ticket back home if you quit and can’t find another employer.

Stage two: prove you are talented

Photo: depositphotos

For visa O-1A and O-1В your set of criteria. You must match at least 3:

1. Availability of documents confirming the receipt of national or international awards;
2. Certificate of membership in a professional association;
3. Authorship of printed materials published in professional or industry publications;
4. Mention of a candidate’s work in professional or well-known media;
5. Confirmation of the participation of the applicant for a visa in the jury, or personal judging in assessing the work of other people in his field;
6. The candidate has 5 or 6 letters from well-known colleagues who can confirm a special scientific or pedagogical contribution;
7. A candidate can document that he was hired because he has the critical competence or competence necessary for the successful performance of work in his area of ​​activity;
8. There is evidence that he had or will have a high level of remuneration.

Oleg Roginsky began preparing to apply for a visa by consulting a lawyer. “I had a familiar law office in Montreal, I worked with them on other migration issues. I came to them for a consultation, they looked at all the types of visas that I could get, and they said that by selling a company in the USA, I would, in principle, qualify for an O-1 visa,” says the businessman.

In addition, he had publications in national media of the USA and Ukraine, he won an international prize in the competition for the strongest marketing company.

“Another point that I qualified for was “impressive contributions to business or science.” We demonstrated exactly what my company has changed from a business perspective. We showed that we made sentiment analysis democratic, and it became accessible even to students,” explains Oleg.

He admits: without the help of a lawyer, it would be difficult to collect all the documents on his own. Roman absolutely agrees with Oleg. Although he did a huge part of the work of collecting documents on his own, he was also led by a lawyer. “I put together the entire case myself - the lawyer only told me where I needed to translate it, where I needed to correct it. My preparation did not consist of me collecting documents for 2 years. I spent 2 years making a portfolio,” says Roman.

Visas O-1 Roman and his wife. Photo: from the personal archive

Doing something specifically for a visa, for example, joining necessary organizations or writing articles in the media, is not considered a violation. According to lawyer Ismail Shakhtakhtinsky, the main thing is that all these achievements are truly yours. “A person gave, for example, some kind of lecture - and this is a plus for him. This is not a deception, the main thing is that he does it. What motivates a person is not important, the main thing is that it is not a deception,” explains the lawyer.

Stage Three: Wait for Visa Approval

Photo: depositphotos

There are usually no denials for an O-1 visa. The package of documents may simply be returned for revision. From the moment of submission, Oleg waited 2 weeks for an answer, Roman - a month. Both received a visa immediately for 3 years.

Then it can be extended for a year. Such an application must be submitted before the expiration of the visa and provide proof that you continue to work for your sponsor.

With similar documents, you can later try to submit to the green card for individuals with extraordinary abilities. So, for example, did Oleg. “I added another 2 test from those 8 and got a green card.”

And immigration lawyer Ismail Shakhtakhtinsky warns that applying for a green card is a completely different process.

“The O-1 visa is a nonimmigrant visa, and the green card is an immigrant visa. And if, for example, the latter is not approved, the person leaves, but after some time he wants to come back to the United States on a non-immigrant visa, he may no longer be allowed in,” he explains.

Roman has a green card only in the plans. He has been in New York for over a year and is only looking around for now. He says everything here needs to start from scratch. But there are so many opportunities that he is ready to risk his popularity at home for a new, even more professional stage in his life.

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