Aaron29

Wow, I'm inundated with responses!- sorry for the late reply guys, I just don't get notifications on my phone to let me know when a message pops up but will be checking this more often now. Firstly I'd like to thank you all for sharing the information that you have with me in such great detail.

Reading through your messages gave me an insight as to what level of documentation would be needed for that visa. I don't think my position in the fitness/modelling industry is close to that capacity yet.

So il tell you abit about myself, I'm a blogger/model, I've worked with some catalogue brands like River Island and Bohoo and have a large following on Instagram. I'm also a PT. I have a few articles in regards to fitness in a few national magazines but not much more than that. I am really focusing on pushing content out these next few months and increasing my social presence hoping that would aid my case.

Anyway I have been intouch with Fragomen who is a law firm here in the UK which specializes in US immigration and they have emailed me saying they think it's best I have a consultation with one of their UK based US immigration lawyers to see what options would be available to me- they have asked for a £600 consultation fee for the hour, so definitely not cheap.

Not sure whether to pay and go ahead with that or build on my social presence and get a few more publications out first?

Nutmegger

I'm not sure that you have said just how you plan to earn a living in the US. What job are you aiming at? Model, fitness trainer? You don't have to be in the US to do your social media stuff.

Aaron29

I am an online fitness trainer and I make a healthy income from that aswell as my day job which is a remote job.

Nutmegger

So, again, you don’t need to be physically present in the US to work? By the way, you can in many instances only do the work for which your visa is granted.

christmasoompa

If he's going for the O visa then yes, but not if he is eligible for the EB1 immigrant visa route. I agree though that being able to do the job remotely isn't terribly helpful, part of our application was showing that my husband's skills are needed in the US, and proving how his experience will be contributing to the US.

I'd forget the social media presence, no point in building that as it's pretty worthless I'm afraid - after all, anybody can buy hundreds of thousands of followers if they wish, and that doesn't show extraordinary ability! Focus on the articles instead.

Might be worth spending the money on the consultation to see if Fragomen think you have a good chance already, or if you need to wait and gather more evidence. They may also look at other visa options for you (EB2 NIW maybe - although again, may not be in the national interest if you can do the job from anywhere), possibly sponsorship from an employer if you can get a modelling gig or similar? Anyway, it may be worth spending out to see what possible routes there are as they will know best what may work.

Good luck.

S Folinsky

Fragomen is a long established immigration firm headquartered in New York. New York is in the United States last time I looked. But they have branches all over the world. I have known some of their partners quite well over the years and they are quite knowledgeable.