O-1 Non-Immigrant Visas

• The O-1 category is for persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. The O-2 category is for certain persons accompanying O-1 in the arts or athletics. The O-3 category is for dependants of aliens in the foregoing categories.
  
• The ‘O’ category is for highly talented or nationally or internationally acclaimed foreign nationals who may not qualify in other non-immigrant categories such as ‘H’, ‘L’ or ‘J’. Sometimes, people may like to avoid these categories for various reasons.
  
• The category is especially very helpful to business professionals, entertainers, artists, athletes who lack professional degrees.
  
• The ‘O’ category is a useful and flexible alternative to the H-1B program because there is no wage maintenance feature, no overall limit on time in classification, and all the more no quota or cap restricts.
  
• O-1 beneficiaries in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics must have extraordinary ability “demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim. “Extraordinary is high standard when to business persons, scientists, educators, and athletes, and a much lower one when applied to artists and entertainers.
  
• Artists and entertainers in the television and motion picture industries must show “a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement,” a standard that falls somewhere in the middle.
  
• The achievements of all types of O-1 beneficiaries must be “recognized in the field through extensive documentation.
  
• The petitioner must prove “extraordinary ability by providing evidence either of the beneficiary’s receipt of a “major, internationally recognized award, or documentation of at least three of the following:
  
• Receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes/awards for excellence in the field;

• Membership in associations in the field that require outstanding achievement of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts;
  
• Published material in professional or major trade publications or major media about the alien;
  
• Participation on a panel or as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field of specialization;
  
• Original Scientific, scholarly, or business-related contributions of major significance;
  
• Authorship of scholarly articles in professional journals or other major media;
  
• Current or previous employment in a critical or essential capacity for organizations and establishments that have a distinguished reputation; or
  
• Past or proffered high salary or other remuneration for services evidenced by contracts or other reliable evidence.

The key to success in obtaining an O-1 visa is in defining the field of endeavor.