“Hi this is immigration attorney, Abisha Parikh. And today i am going to be briefly discussing the O-1 Visa for extraordinary ability individuals as an alternative for a H1-B Visa. Most people are familiar with the H1-B Visa as the most common work visa. However, the O1 visa is a very unique visa that allows individuals to obtain status to work in the US without all the limitations that H1-B visa imposes. The O1 visa is broken down into 2 categories. The O-1A visa for people with exceptional ability in Business, vocation , science or technology. and the O-1B visa for people with exceptional ability in arts and motion picture. There are several categories that require the individual to show that in order to qualify for the O1 visa. You can find the list on the USCIS website or visit immigrationvision.com. it is important to understand that some of these categories require awards, prices, publications, media coverage and achievement in competition, just to name a few. you can also get letters from peers/others in the industry that may have heard about your work. but you have to make sure that the documents are not coming from a bias source. The approach to O1 is that even if you do not feel like that you have all the elements that are listed, you have to sit down and understand what you are trying to achieve, sometimes it helps to narrow down the industry to show expertise in a niche area. Also look at the industry standard, are people recognized by the work that they do, the performances that they give to show that the requirements are being met. O1’s are a good visa if you put the time to understand the requirements and try to make them applicable to your individual case. The O1 is not subject to a numerical cap. You can apply any time and you can work for multiple employers. You can even have an agent petition for you as long as you have a valid contract for you and the agent. So you can see, the O1 visa has room for a lot more flexibility. It will be strongly urged that you discuss your eligibility with an immigration attorney to see if you qualify before you apply. “
