I Received O-1 Talent Visa in the US in 2023 and Let Me Tell You What It Takes
Tags: emigration, travel
Published: 2024-04-19 09:18:51

**How to Get an O-1 Talent Visa in the USA: Requirements, Criteria, Personal Experienc**

Today, the O-1 visa is the most simple and reliable way for professionals to relocate to the USA. It is much easier to obtain than the EB-1 or H1B visas, and there is no requirement to be tied to an employer, moreover, the number of visas issued is unlimited.  
After the presidential elections in 2024, the immigration policy of the USA may undergo significant changes - it is very  likely that the authorities will work on tightening immigration laws and regulations. Therefore, it is the right time to make your decision about moving to the USA. Especially since the approval rate for the O-1 visa currently stands at 96% of all applications submitted, and practically any working professional can obtain it.
The immigration center Mircare helps people become free in a new country. With over 8 years in the market, more than 10,000 of our clients have relocated to their dream countries, and over 50,000 people are currently submitting  documents through us / with our help . Hundreds have made a decision to not postpone their relocation  and have already started a new life in America. We assist with visas, residence permits, and citizenship applications worldwide. 

The founder of our center, Alexey Nevzorov, received an O-1 talent visa in March 2024. And his partner, Enrique Torres from Argentina, became the holder of a talent visa and moved to Los Angeles in March 2023.

Therefore, in this article, we will share the experience of preparing our head’s / CEO’s  case, as well as examples from the cases of more than 20 of our clients, whom we have either already helped or are currently assisting with document preparation.

All information in this text is up-to-date as of April 2024. If anything changes, the material will be updated. Any questions  can be left  in the comments.

**Advantages of the O-1 visa compared to EB-1, H1B, and other options:**
Compared to other immigration visas, the O-1 provides much more freedom and opportunities.

- With the O-1 visa, your immediate family members can move with you to the USA.

- The O-1 visa does not tie you to a specific employer. You can start looking for a job  in the USA immediately after relocating  and you can change it at any time.

- The talent visa allows not only to work but also to start your own business in the USA.

- You can freely travel within the country. In fact, you may not even live in the USA at all times  - it doesn't matter.

- The visa can be extended after three years - it is much easier than preparing a case and obtaining a visa for the first time. If the conditions are met, you can also apply for a green card with ease.

**Who is eligible for the O-1 Talent Visa in the USA**

From the title, it seems that only some superhumans — Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement — with global achievements in science, art, sports, etc., can count on the O-1. The list of criteria and merits required to obtain the visa looks impressive — and this discourages many.

In fact, practically any professional can get a talent visa in the USA. Of course, to prepare a case for submission, you need to make certain efforts, spend time and money — but you definitely don't need to be a prize laureate, patent author, or author of erudite monographs with a high Hirsch index.

**The process of obtaining the talent visa**

1. You gather all the evidence that you meet the criteria for obtaining the O-1 visa and then consult with an immigration attorney.
2. Our  attorney analyzes your case and provides recommendations on where additional information needs to be provided to meet the criteria requirements. Afterwards , you submit additional documents.
3. Once the case is ready, the attorney prepares a petition and submits it to the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services).
4. The immigration service reviews your case. If everything is correct, you will receive confirmation, and then you can schedule an appointment at the embassy. If there are any questions about your case, you will receive a letter explaining what additional information needs to be provided. You can provide the missing information through your attorney.
5. Then you must schedule an interview at any US embassy in any country that is convenient for you to travel to. There are no restrictions here.
6. On the appointed date, you arrive with the documents, undergo a short formal interview at the embassy. Generally , this goes smoothly.
7. You wait for 2-3 days and receive a visa sticker in your passport. That's it, you can relocate.

> The services of an immigration attorney currently cost around $10,000-40,000. Just a year ago, it was much cheaper, but prices have skyrocketed in recent times.
The filing fee for petition processing is $400. For expedited processing within 2 weeks, an additional $2,600 will need to be added.
By law, you can only prepare and file the petition yourself or with a licensed attorney. Some "helpers" charge less money for this service than attorneys and prepare everything for personal submission, but their assistance is essentially illegal. If it becomes known at any point, your visa, green card, or even US passport may simply be revoked, if you have obtained it by then.
So, you can't do without an attorney. We provide our clients contacts of trusted attorneys who fully handle the case and charge a fixed fee (from $8,500). For those who come on our recommendation, there are good discounts.

**Talent Visa in the USA: Criteria and Requirements**

There are quite a few criteria:

1. Working in a key position in a well-known organization or company with a good reputation at the national or international level.
2. Income above the market average for your position and profession.
3. Wins in competitions, awards, and prizes for professional or scientific activities.
4. Membership in professional associations.
5. Authorship of articles and publications in online media, professional journals, and newspapers.
6. Publications about you, your achievements, and activities in the media and online media.
7. Participation as a jury member in professional competitions, awards, prizes, etc.
8. Confirmation of contributions to industry development: authored books, articles, conference presentations, etc.

Although the full list of requirements is quite lengthy, you need to meet and provide evidence for at least three of them (preferably more). This is sufficient to obtain approval for your case from the immigration officer.

> In fact, the case is a well-developed and properly packaged personal brand. Mircare acts here as a consultant on one hand and as a PR department for our clients on the other, to expedite and facilitate work with media, competitions, publications, and all necessary evidence to meet the criteria requirements. Such assistance is completely legal and does not raise questions from the authorities in the USA.
We put together your case "turnkey" - we take care of all the work. As a result, you will receive media publications about yourself, your authored publications in the media, and we will also organize your participation as a jury member in competitions similar to your field and help you become a winner or laureate in prestigious professional competitions and awards.
We ourselves create an individual schedule for your publications, negotiate with editorial offices, and also liaise with organizers of various competitions and professional events.
As a bonus, we offer you special conditions - good discounts on cooperation with attorneys and publications in top-tier media. This will save you several thousand dollars.

## Working in a key position in a well-known company or organization
It would be ideal if you are an employee of a company associated with internationally recognized brands that everyone is familiar with. For example, like our client who worked at the Mercedes-Benz office. This is a well-known brand, so to confirm the criterion, it is sufficient to provide your employment contract.


_If you work for a globally recognized brand, then the criterion is automatically fulfilled._

If the company you work for cannot boast global fame but still has a good reputation and is popular (even within narrow circles), you can still apply under this criterion. In this case, you will need to provide additional evidence of the company's reputation and popularity.

For example, one of our clients holds a managerial position at one of the small factories in the province that you probably have never heard of. However, the factory has been operating for over 20 years, participates in exhibitions, occasionally appears in media publications — all of this we collected and attached to the case as evidence that the company meets the criterion. The immigration officers were  completely satisfied with this.

The head  of our immigration center Mircare, Alexey Nevzorov, was also able to obtain an O-1 talent visa. Mircare is actively promoted in the media and by bloggers, the company is frequently featured in the press, and the center regularly holds events — the details of these events fit perfectly into the criteria for the case.

> The most challenging part here is to prepare a resume and outline your role in the company in a way that highlights your contribution to its development and success in the market.
However, it's very difficult to praise oneself and describe all possible achievements — it leads to imposter syndrome. As a result, a resume of five to six pages can take a lot of time and effort. Even if at first glance it seems that there is nothing difficult here, in reality, this is a  task that you constantly want to postpone for later.

## Income above the market average

Some immigration attorneys believe that the applicant's salary for the visa should be almost as high as in California, otherwise this criterion will not pass. In reality, however, it is sufficient for the income to be 1.5-2 times higher than the average for your industry in your region.

Moreover, not only salary is taken into account, but also other sources such as fees, side jobs, dividends, etc. You can determine whether your income is above the market average by checking job search websites, studying job postings, or using special services for income evaluation .

You can also add a report from the National Statistical Service of your country on average salaries in your field to the case. The main thing is that the income should be directly related to your profession.

To confirm your income, it is sufficient to provide an income certificate from your  employer or a tax return if you receive income from different sources. The key is that the incomes should be related to your professional activity. Note: passive income or side jobs in another field will not be taken into account.

## Competitions, awards, and prizes for professional activities

Any prize recognitions  or wins in any national or international professional competitions will be suitable here. The key  is for them to be  directly related to your professional activities. For example, wins and awards in your hobby field will not meet the criterion.

For each competition, you will also need to provide evidence of its significance: a description, links to official  publications / authoritative sources in the media about the event, etc.

For example, our founder Alexey Nevzorov participated in several awards and competitions for entrepreneurs. Mircare experts helped him highlight / point out  suitable events, clarify all the details, prepare applications, and make a submission  — all of this took a lot of time. Preparing such  database for this criterion on his own seems completely impossible.

Moving forward , Alexey received the International «Best Business Awards-2022» title / award. It is quite authoritative, and the media wrote a lot about it, so it fits the criterion.


_The international award took place in Moscow Best Business Awardes - 2022_

## Publications and authored articles
This is the simplest criterion of all because here you can simultaneously fulfill two points (by obtaining both  articles and interviews about yourself), and it will not be difficult to do so, even if you have not had prior public activity.

This includes:

- stories featuring your successes in reputable and influential national or international media. 

- authored articles in the media and professional media, as well as publications in scientific journals.

Important: materials must be fresh, and the data in them should be relevant during the visa application period.

For media personalities, this criterion is often automatically fulfilled - it is only necessary to prove the authority of the media and translate the articles into English. 

In other cases, PR work on preparing articles, organizing interviews, and placing them in the media is better entrusted to professionals. 

For example, the founder of Mircare, Alexey Nevzorov, has an authored article in Forbes, several expert comments, and references to him as an expert in various media.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xm3ne5vx4pripix4ex9t.png)
_Eastern Express: How to Quickly Obtain Residence Permit in Turkey_

_Article by Alexey Nevzorov in Forbes. This media outlet is considered so authoritative that sometimes even one publication is enough to meet the criteria._
Interviews and success stories should be published in national-level media outlets. There should be at least five such publications.
Authoritative articles on professional topics should be published in specialized and thematic publications. There should be at least eight such publications.
Of course, these numbers are not fixed: there is a known case where an applicant met the criteria with just one publication about themselves and one authored article — but the two  were about an invention, so the immigration officer accepted the case, and the person got the visa.

> If you approach the media as an individual, the cost for such publications will be 20-50% higher for you compared to our center, a regular client of  such materials for our  customers.
When preparing the case on your own , there is a risk of significantly overpaying. Therefore, it will be easier and cheaper to deal with publications if you turn to Mircare.

## Membership in reputable public organizations and professional communities

The requirements for O-1 are much more lenient here than for the EB-1 visa. It's sufficient to be an active member of any reputable organization.

For example, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is considered reputable enough and meets the criterion.

If you are engaged in scientific activities, any scientific association will suffice. If it's fine arts or such , any union will do.

It's important that this is also directly related to your professional activities. Participation in charity communities unrelated to your work, unfortunately, does not meet the criterion.

## Contribution to industry development
In this case, the best fit would be your own published book and prior experience of being a speaker at relevant conferences. 
Additionally, you can further support the criterion with written recommendations from authoritative figures in your field who confirm that your work contributes to the industry's development.

> This is one of the few criteria that is practically impossible to fulfill from scratch in a short period of time. Even if you already have a book and speaking engagements, gathering recommendations is also quite challenging because not everyone agrees to provide them. Moreover, it takes time to properly format them.

## Participation as an expert or jury member in professional competitions and awards

This criterion encompasses virtually any professional competitions that are covered by the media and supported by reasonably prominent professional communities.

In fact, there are quite a lot of them in any industry, and any established professional can become part of the jury or expert panel.

Media personalities are often invited by the organizers themselves. Otherwise, you can reach out to them, write a motivational letter, and arrange to be invited to the jury.

This is a huge undertaking. For example, recently, to secure one spot on the jury for one of our clients, we submitted applications to approximately 50 different professional competitions and awards. It involves a whole team, and it takes a lot of time.

It is essential to consider that if you work in a more narrow  field, the project, competition, or award must be relevant to your professional area. Otherwise, you will not pass this criterion.

## Summary of O-1 Visa Criteria

As we mentioned earlier, there are a total of 8 criteria. To qualify for an O-1 visa, it is sufficient to fully meet three criteria, but it is advisable to include a minimum of 4-5 in the case to hedge against any doubts from the immigration officer.

Initially, you don't need to be a super talent: many of the criteria for obtaining an O-1 visa can be achieved from scratch during the preparation of the case materials.
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bjjixlazvxv0fdvtidgm.png)
In the end, even with an average income and without any public activity, you can gather 4 criteria - this is more than enough to obtain the talent visa.
If the income is high and you are even slightly involved in the industry: speaking at conferences, writing articles, teaching — then it is easy to gather 5-6 criteria. And you don't have to be a star of the industry for this.

## How long does it take to get an O-1 visa in the USA?

- Depending on the initial data, preparing the case takes from 3 months to a year. You need to gather all the evidence to meet the criteria, translate it into English, print the case — and in the end, you will have a stack of 300-700 pages.

- The standard processing time for the petition is 2 months. If you pay for expedited processing, it can be shortened to 2 weeks.

- Embassies almost always have available slots for interviews, so you can pass it quite quickly — quite literally the next day after receiving confirmation.

- Waiting for the visa sticker takes only 2-3 working days after the interview. Immediately after receiving the visa, you can enter the USA, no additional documents are required for this.

## Do it yourself or enlist helpers?
Logically, we should advocate that you must definitely turn to us and that without the help of experts, you won't succeed. In reality, that's not the case.

You can prepare the case from scratch and gather all the evidence according to the criteria yourself, but you need to allocate 4-5 months of full-time work for this: negotiate with the media, write articles, provide comments, prepare resumes and recommendation letters, monitor events, call and correspond with dozens of people. It's not possible to do this for a couple of hours each evening.

Each criterion has a lot of nuances and subtle points: a good lawyer will help you understand them, but you need to be careful, as most simply recommend collecting everything to the maximum, even where it's not necessary.

Another huge part of the work is preparing the case. Everything is printed on paper: the officer will simply take your case and study it page by page — if you forgot to include something in it, they won't look for it through any additional links. Therefore, the document structure must be well thought out so that everything is easily found and does not raise questions.

> We charge a significant amount for case preparation — $12,500. This includes developing an individual strategy tailored to your situation, creating a roadmap for further actions, directly preparing the case and gathering evidence, transferring the completed case to our lawyers in the USA, consultation for the interview with the consul, as well as advice on entry into the country and adaptation.
Additionally, you will still need to pay the immigration lawyer's fee and cover the cost of publications in the media. Overall, this is advantageous — approximately half of the cost of our services is justified by discounts from the lawyer and the media, which you won't get if you do everything as a private individual.
The decision to handle everything yourself or turn to us depends on the value of your own time. If you can earn more than $6,000-7,000 in the 4-5 months it takes to prepare the case from scratch, then our work with all guarantees and responsibility will definitely be more profitable. If it's less, then it will make sense to do everything yourself.