24 Steps to apply for the US O1 Visa – Checklist

We walk you through our 24 steps in applying for your O-1 visa, documents you need to gather, and tips on how to find a sponsor and organize your paperwork.

We will also discuss the interview process for the O-1 visa. The interview is usually very brief, but it is important to be prepared. We will give you some tips on how to answer the questions that the interviewer is likely to ask.

By following the steps outlined in this article, you can streamline the O-1 visa application process and get your visa approved as quickly as possible.

Let’s get started

1. Understand the USCIS criteria

USCIS criteria – be familiar with the criteria and the evidence needed. Being familiar with them at the very beginning opens future opportunities on how you can shape your application. It empowers you. Understanding the requirements and what fulfills them helps you determine the strength of your case. [Read the criteria here.

2. Print and copy evidence needed for each criteria

If you have a career you will be very surprised by how much evidence you already have. Each piece of evidence usually backs up more than one criteria. eg Press could potentially show ‘evidence of recognition for achievements’ AND ‘evidence of critical role’. Print out your evidence and note what criteria it backs up. Start to get organized early on by keeping folders and using tabs. [Evidence best practices. [How to Present Evidence]

3. Decide the criteria you believe you qualify in

Deciding on the criteria that you will likely qualify in frees you to be strategic in your career by choosing/creating work to fulfill those particular criteria.

You must qualify in 3 criteria. Choose those and confirm you have enough evidence to fulfill them. If you qualify in 3 it is common that you will automatically qualify in 4 or 5. It is not necessary to submit evidence in every category. It is best to only submit the strongest criteria. You don’t wish to water down the strength of your application with a weak category.

4. Build your case

In the time you are gathering your evidence you can achieve more. It is inevitable that you will continue to work. Focus on work opportunities that will get reviewed or can potentially feature you in their promotional material. If they don’t intend to have promo material take the initiative and create yours. If your work is to be shown at festivals be sure to attend and publicize that.

Collate the documentation on all your achievements within your field. Build this into one long resume.

Apply for competitions / festivals in your field.

Apply for Arts Council Awards / Residencies / Talent Labs / Scholarships – if project based, apply collaborating with recognizable names or artists that have won awards.

Get press about you published in print and online. Print is better. Keep and scan those articles making sure to keep the top date and newspaper name.

Raise your profile by being active in your industry, whether that is within your union or any other lobbying group. Initiate workshops for your peers with any notable artists that you have access to. Volunteer to judge at competitions or MC events.

If you do have access to a celebrity at a festival etc. be sure to get a photo with them to include.

Use this time to raise your profile. Look to your home country first by assessing artists careers that are a couple of steps ahead of your own and use their success trajectory as a blueprint for yours. Sign up to all artist profile sites with good search engine presence. During your interview stage the USCIS may google you – having a professional web presence is extremely beneficial and it might have the added bonus of getting you more work!

Connect with colleagues in neighboring countries that may hire you. Booking work across the world shows you to be of a higher level than just within your own country.

5. Recommendation Letters

Look for opportunities to develop high status connections – this will also give access to great testimonials and recommendation letters. Connect with them. Ask if they would mind writing you a letter in the future. Meet these people at festivals, conventions, industry events etc. [Recommendation Letters]

6. Deal memos and work contracts

As this is a work visa you must show contracts of upcoming work in the USA. To ensure you have the maximum time possible on your visa, be sure to supply work contract/s across a 3 year span. These contracts become your ‘Itinerary’. Note the amount of time allotted to your visa is entirely up to the discretion of your immigration examiner you may not be awarded the full 3 years. Your sponsor/employer may add additional performances or engagements for you during the your valid stay without filing an amended petition to the USCIS, provided that the additional performances or engagements are in the same O-1 caliber.

You can find these by connecting with US contacts/venues for deal memos and work contracts. Connect with colleagues in the US ask them if they can help. Proof of Future Work can be – Deal Memos/Contracts and a paragraph in a recommendation letter or an email promise of work. It is best when it has the name of hirer, address and dates, however. [Sample Contract]

7. Petition Letter – O1A or O1B MPTV or Arts

Not every Ballroom Dancer is an Athlete(O-1A) just like not every artist works in film TV(O-1B MPTV). Consider if your petition letter will be – O-1A or Arts O-1B. Asses your career. If you are coming out to the US and intend to work a particular aspect of your field but can’t prove your have ever worked that aspect before you may not be successful in your application.

Understanding how your application will be judged will allow you to work strategically to apply in 6 months to a year having specifically focused on 3 criteria.

8. Approach potential Sponsors

Now is the time to connect with representation in the US. Reach out to all you know in the industry and ask for referrals to their representation. Your sponsor is very important. They will want to represent you because they believe they can get you work. Most managers/agents in US have previously petitioned O visa artists – this process should not be new to them. Find a company/manager/agency who will be willing to represent you first, then ask if they will sponsor your application. If you are in an industry where an agent/manager is the norm this may be expected. If this is not the case for you it is permitted that you set up a company and sponsor your own application. More in our guide.

9. Form I-129

Familiarize yourself with what is needed by the USCIS. Print the forms. The I-129 is the form needed to apply (I-129 here) and the USCIS accompanying instructions are excellent (instructions here). You should gain confidence before filing having gone through this. Just ensure that you have the most up to date form when you are ready to file.

10. Hire an Attorney

You should now know enough about your application to speak with an attorney. Attorney Guide and DIY info here.

11. Request your Recommendation Letters

Now that you are almost ready to file, circle back to the contacts you have made that agreed to give you a Recommendation Letter. [Read our advice here]. You will ask that they are specific to the criteria that you need bolstering. Recommendation Letters carry more weight than most artists realize. The USCIS do not want to see another wish-washy ‘Joes Schmo is extraordinary letter’ – be specific. Perhaps, if they are based in the US, they may also offer you a deal memo or promise of work.

12. Build your Itinerary (if necessary)

Not every case needs an itinerary. An itinerary is only necessary for applicants that will work in different locations. eg you are a pianist working on a cruise line for the one company you should submit an itinerary. Most artists, PR agents, DJs, work freelance and so will submit an itinerary from the deal memos/contracts they have gathered. Most scientists, coaches work from one location so an Itinerary might not be required.

To benefit from the full 3 year period available on this visa it is best to build this itinerary out with ”events” for the full term. [itinerary]

13. Finalize your Petition Letter

Now, understanding the criteria you will be applying for you should complete your petition letter by smattering the letter with quotes from your recommendation letters to bolster each category. You may be able to add in segments from the deal memos too. Spell check and confirm that dates are in US format. If you are not preparing your own application research and hire the most qualified immigration attorney you can and read the petition letter before it is filed on your behalf.

14. Get Sponsor signatures

Your sponsor should sign a contract with you for a 3 year period. They will need to sign the I-129 form and the cover letter of your petition.

15. Consultation Letters

You will need a Consultation Letter to accompany most applications, for an Arts O MPTV application. Approach US peer groups, labor organizations, and/or management organizations within your field for consultation support letter. (You may be required to send your petition and evidence). This is not an exhaustive list but here are some the USCIS expect to see. (Arts MPTV read Warning article.)

16. Index your Evidence

Your role now is to make the content of your application easy for your officer to assess. Organize your documents and evidence in a digestible way. The petition letter argument should be supported with evidence. Building an Index of Exhibits is important. How to present your application for the USCIS requires pages are in US Letter page size, should be hole punched at the top of the page, tabs at the bottom. O visas are filed in duplicate meaning you will need to submit 2 copies of the petition and evidence. [More in our Evidence Best Practices Guide]

17. Submit to USCIS

Decide if you will use the [Premium Processing service] (hearing a decision in 15 days is great.) Perhaps you are happy to wait it out (Processing times). Check everything is signed, collated. Check your version of [form I-129] is the most recent version. If using an attorney you should read your petition letter before it is submitted on your behalf (check especially for US date format against your evidence, see Rejection information. Mail in your application using USPS to the correct address. PHEW! P.S. You are one of the 540,000 people that submit.

18. Celebrate your approval

Congratulations on your approval. Now you must organize your [US Consulate/Embassy interview]. If you received an [RFE (Request for Further Evidence)] respond as soon as possible even if they asked questions on everything – the statistics of people being approved on responding are worth the chance. If you are Denied you must read the letter to see why. You can straight away reapply with that new knowledge. You may even have the option of [‘withdrawing your application’] before the USCIS officially deny you. You may also have the option of rebutting their decision if you believe key evidence was missed.

19. Consulate/Embassy Interview

Organize your [interview] at your local consulate. You should bring your application with you, the evidence should be the originals so the officer can check their validity if they wish. You will have your deal memos with you to prove you will work. When you leave make sure to leave your passport with them. They will mail back your passport with your visa stapled in among the pages. US Government regulation requires that your passport be valid for a minimum of six months following the expiration of your requested visa. This means that if you’re applying for a one year visa to start in January, your passport needs to be valid through the July of the following year. There are exceptions to this rule. They will question you. Look presentable and follow their instructions.

20. Visa in Passport

Wait for the Consulate or Embassy to mail back your passport. Your visa should be stapled to a page. Check the spellings and the date it is valid until. Now is the time to correct any errors. It is wise to not book any flights until your passport is in your hands and you’ve checked everything is in order.

21. Interview at Custom Border Patrol

You will interview again at [Custom Border Patrol] when entering the USA – have your Deal Memos, Sponsor Contract in your hand luggage. Be ready to show your visa and have the address of the sponsor and where you are staying at the ready. Even though you have just stepped off a long flight please be as polite and patient as possible. They are more powerful than most give them credit for – they have the power to deny you entry into the USA and it is difficult to overrule their decision. When at the counter make a note of the last date of your visa and the last date of your [I-94] to ensure they match. Mark the date in your calendar as this is the date you are legally allowed work in the US. Do this to avoid overstaying.

22. Social Security Number

Set up your [Social Security Number] and Driver Licence. NOTE: They will be valid only up to the last day of your I-94. The USCIS now allow you to apply for a new Social Security number on the O visa form [Form I-129]. This speeds up the process. If you already have a social security number bring your passport with visa to the Social Security office to update the ‘Valid for Work’ information. As soon as you have your Social Security number you can apply for your [Driving Licence]. Use your [Travel Medical Insurance] until you sort out your US medical insurance. Check too if you need to register for city tax or you require a licence to work in your field.

23. Continue to work

You must [continue to work within your field]. Understand the restrictions of your visa. If you are applying for a [“Change of Sponsor”] or an [“Extension”] in the future you will need to prove you have been working within your field.

24. Prepare for the EB-1

Also if you are upgrading to the EB1 green card you should endeavor to garner as much high status work as possible. Read how you can go from O visa to EB1 here.

There is very little to do on the forms, your interview is less than 10 minutes, your US Custom Border Patrol entry interview is one minute tops. It’s the gathering of evidence, finding contracts and a sponsor that is your responsibility and can take a while.

The petition letter is the next time sink. You can choose to write this yourself or hire an attorney. The O-1 application is a paper application, designed to allow you prove your eligibility to live and work in the United States, to create art, build your business, train and compete as an athlete, educate others and advance science, and benefit the American people and culture. The key to the application is being organized and methodical.

We hope our articles show you how this is a feasible option for you.

Why don’t you message us with your story. Email here!

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All articles are written from our experiences and the experiences of our colleagues. These are fantastic visas and we wish to empower others in applying. This information is for general guidance only and shouldn’t be considered legal advice.

If you have any questions or encounter any issues that we have left out let us know – it is important that others are aware. Email here!

FAQ

Who qualifies for an O-1 visa?

O1A – Athletes, Educators, Business People, Scientists and O1B(Arts) – Artists and O1B(MPTV) – Film Workers, Tattoo, Circus, Theater/Theatre Workers, Acting Coaches etc.

How long is an O-1 visa good for?

It can be valid for up to 3 years. There are many factors that determine the length of your visa eg. job contract length, if you have an agency sponsor, gaps between employment. Read how to maximize your O1 Visa here

Is O-1 visa easy to get?

If you are working in your field there is a good chance that you qualify. You will need to prove that you are ‘extraordinary’. We break down what the USCIS determines to be ‘extraordinary’ O1A criteria here, O1B Arts criteria here and [O1B MPTV criteria here]