machten

Hi, longtime lurker here planning a US move soon and really hoping I can tap the group for advice. I've searched around but it seems the particulars of my case are a little specific.

Here's my situation: I've been offered a full time job in New York, with a media company that has used me as a freelance UK correspondent for a few years, reporting on film and television. I already hold an I-Visa through my work with the British arm of another major multinational and regularly visit locations all over the US to report. I've never had an issue being admitted.

The sponsoring company has been talking to lawyers and bouncing between visa options, and the one they seem to be going with has suggested an I Visa is easiest appropriate route. This smells like terrible advice to me. The company in question publishes magazines and websites internationally, but I believe that all of its regional offices are merely satellites, and in any case, I wouldn't be working for the UK arm from the US, I'd be working for the US company, on a magazine/website that circulates primarily in the US.

Continuing to use the I-Visa seems, of course, the easiest, hassle-free option, since I already hold it, and there is a part of me wondering why a lawyer who has more to gain from a new application - declined or not - would recommend an option that would see them billing less if it weren't correct. But everything I know about the I-Visa - and this is my second, issued in January this year just before the old one expired - screams that an I Visa is only appropriate if you're reporting for a foreign media organisation. Surely working for a magazine that is primarily published in the US, even if it does circulate on foreign soil, simply doesn't meet that criteria?

If I'm correct, and the I-Visa clearly isn't appropriate in this scenario, the other option they've been considering is the O-1B, which feels more appropriate to me. However, if I am correct, I then become concerned about the worth of the lawyer they'd be hiring to build that application. Should I ask that they find someone else?

Given how much of my work as a freelance in this particular field has brought me to the US over the last five years of holding the I-Visa, it behooves me to be 110% confident in the route they choose, because the last thing I want is a visa denial or deportation affecting me in the future. I have never been anything other than whiter-than-white when dealing with US immigration, and being unable to enter the US would limit my ability to earn.

As an adjunct to that question: If I hold an I-Visa issued in Jan and I apply for an O-1B, is the I-Visa automatically invalidated by the application? If I'm denied the O-1B, will I still hold the I? And if I would lose the I, would a denial for the O-1B prevent me from reapplying for an I again for any length of time? I feel like if I lose the O-1B I'd likely lose the full time offer, so I'd be back to freelance which relies heavily on my being admitted to the US as a foreign journalist. It wouldn't be too late to ask the US company to offer a contingency plan should that be the case, but it'd be super helpful to try and figure out how long I might have to sit out US visits.

ian-mstm

As you suggest, this is an unusual situation - I'm not sure it's been covered before... and I've been using these forums for a long time. I urge you to consider seeking independent counsel rather than rely on the company's attorney. There is certainly no harm in getting a second opinion, and the other lawyer might even have other suggestions for you.


No. You are allowed to have multiple, independent visas in process and - in fact - in your passport! However, you can be admitted to the US in only one status so that means that when you enter the US you must make a choice of which visa to use and then abide by the rules of that one, specific visa... to the exclusion of the other visa. If you have a need to use the other visa, you must first exit and then re-enter the US.


Yes.


No - but you will be obligated to declare the visa denial on every subsequent US visa application.

Ian

machten

Thanks for the reply Ian. I will certainly seek out independent counsel. Does anyone on these forums have recommendations for UK-based laywers they could share? I know the company has had different advice from different lawyers they've spoken to, and my fear is they've plumped for the cheapest.

This is a huge relief, so thank you again. I don't think it'd be even a remote problem to re-enter on a different visa - in fact, this means that if I get the O-1B, and the job lasts a year, I can return home and pick up my freelancing just where I left it, and still have four years of gold on my I-Visa.

I figured that would be the case, but in this scenario it doesn't seem like it would be endlessly crippling (though perhaps I'm being optimistic). If the theoretical O-1B is declined, I'd still have nearly a full five years on the I, so by the time I came to reapplying it'd be a long way from the O-1B decline. Or does it tend to have more damaging implications?

ian-mstm

Try this: AILA's Immigration Lawyer Search.

Ian

S Folinsky

Interesting question. If I was still in practice, I would have to hit the books on this one.

Furthermore deponent sayeth not.

scrubbedexpat099

What am I missing?

machten

Exactly what I mean. That line, which is never absent from any piece of information about the I-Visa, seems to be as clear an indication as any that an I-Visa isn't appropriate in this case. Which makes me really worry about this lawyer's ability to help my application even if I insist on the O-1B route.

scrubbedexpat099

Have you asked them? Or maybe time to discuss this with an Immigration Lawyer you pay and will have your own interests at heart.

As our semi tame forum Lawyer mentioned he would need to research, you could reasonable expect it to cost a few bob.

machten

I've asked for more information about why they think this route works. But I guess what I'm trying to understand is what makes it so complicated? I know that might seem like a crazily naive question when it comes to US visa law, but the wording on the I seems so clear, and the company I'd be working for is 100% American. I don't see any way they could claim their UK operation is a "home office", and afaik all foreign employees of the company are paid through the US business on freelance contracts. The UK office is just desks for them to work at.

Orangepants

You don't have to use UK based attorneys. I have two excellent recommendations for O-1 lawyers. The first specializes in music/arts but very adequately represented my OH to get a O-1A in the sports arena. She (the lawyer) loves a challenge.

We moved to another lawyer this year and he is the most responsive person ever and has been on top of the case 100%. Renewal approved last week. We are using him to get our green cards. Both will do initial phone consultation and/or email to assess your credentials to see whether they feel there is a petition to pursue.

Kudos to you for doing the research. I left my own visa application in 2007/8 in the hands of company lawyers and .. crashed and burned. It's your life, take control.