O Visa for Extraordinary Ability Individuals in the Arts, Entertainment Industry, Athletics, and More

"Attorneys Vaughan de Kirby and Hendrik Pretorius have been invaluable in their servicing of the immigration needs of our dance company, Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Using their years of experience in the field and dedication to assisting those in the arts community, they have helped our company obtain O visa status for numerous upper echelon ballet dancers from around the world. Anyone in the arts and entertainment fields looking for immigration information can benefit from speaking with the Law Offices of Vaughan de Kirby!"

 - Tory Dobrin, Artistic Director Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, http://www.trockadero.org/

So you may be asking yourself what is the O visa or can I apply for an O-1 visa? The O visa category is an exceptional visa option for persons in various fields including the arts, film and television, and professional level entertainment industry positions. Athletes are also included in this category. Note that in some cases the P visa is a more suitable visa option, usually in the case of a musical band, events of a particular cultural orientation, and so forth. Our California immigration lawyers can help you decide the best strategy between an O or P visa.

The O visa is broken down into O-1A and O-1B visas, with the O-1A visas intended for persons who have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics, demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim. O-1B visas are intended for persons working in motion picture or TV productions who can evidence a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement. Please see the featured article below for more background information.

The beneficiary of an O-1 visa petition must generally evidence, through a variety of possible evidentiary forms that he/she has reached a level of acclaim and has skill above that normally encountered in the field, whether in the U.S. or in the applicant's home country.

The regulatory language provides the following elements that can be shown to evidence the requisite ability. Although at least three of these elements must be shown, a well prepared application by an experienced immigration lawyer will attempt to satisfy as many of these O visa requirements as possible:

1. Evidence that the applicant has performed and will perform services as a lead or starring participant in a production or event that has a distinguished reputation;

2. Evidence that the applicant has received national or international recognition for achievements (note that this does not have to rise to the level of upper echelon awards such as an Academy Award to be persuasive);

3. Performed or starred in a lead role for an organization that has a distinguished reputation;

4. A record of commercial or critically acclaimed success as evidenced via standing in the field, ratings, reviews, or through others forms of evidence;

5. Received recognition for achievements from organizations, critics, or other experts in the field via testimonials; and/or

6. Commanded or will command a high salary for services in relation to others in the field.

Apart from evidencing an applicant's extraordinary ability another major issue related to the O visa is who can act as a petitioner. An applicant can either have an employer act as the sponsoring petitioner or alternatively, as is the case with most persons in the arts fields, if the applicant has an itinerary of upcoming events lined up then a company or even an individual in the U.S. can act as a sponsoring agent for immigration purposes.

The O visa is generally granted to qualifying Beneficiaries for the period of time evidenced in the Beneficiary's itinerary as provided by the petitioning employer or petitioning agent representing numerous individual companies or upcoming events at which the Beneficiary will perform or partake. The maximum period of time that is granted on each initial O-1 visa is three years, although extensions may be applied for with the immigration service (USCIS). Note, it is possible to also have an immigrant green card case on file while a person is working in the U.S. on their O visa. This immigration related dual intent is an important feature of the O visa, which is not present with all non-immigrant visa types.

Note that the P visa is another option to consider if you are an athlete or a group of entertainers such as a music group. For more information about the P visa click here. 

For additional information please request a free electronic O visa guide which provides more information about this visa. Additionally to speak with San Francisco, California Immigration Attorney Hendrik Pretorius about your O visa options please feel free to e-mail directly to hp@dekirby.net or send a message via our website contact link. Also, feel free to call us directly.