Ek

Dear all,

I am currently on J-1 visa with 2HRR (research scholar). My J-1 will expire
at the end of June, 04. Currently I am interviewing for a job with the same
institution where I worked for 2 years on J-1. They might offer me a job
soon. How difficult it is to get O-1 visa right now? I have some
publications, but most of them were at the international conferences. I
don't have Nobel prize or other distinguished international awards in my
area. Two years ago a lawyer told me that it won't be a problem for me to
get O-1 visa. HOwever, I heard that right now it is more and more difficult
to get O-1 petition approved.

Can anyone share there recent experience? What supporting documents were
submitted with the petition?

Thank you in advance!
EK

Matrix

"EK" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    | Dear all,
    |
    | I am currently on J-1 visa with 2HRR (research scholar). My J-1 will
expire
    | at the end of June, 04. Currently I am interviewing for a job with the
same
    | institution where I worked for 2 years on J-1. They might offer me a job
    | soon. How difficult it is to get O-1 visa right now? I have some
    | publications, but most of them were at the international conferences. I
    | don't have Nobel prize or other distinguished international awards in
my
    | area. Two years ago a lawyer told me that it won't be a problem for me to
    | get O-1 visa. HOwever, I heard that right now it is more and more
difficult
    | to get O-1 petition approved.
    |
    | Can anyone share there recent experience? What supporting documents were
    | submitted with the petition?
    |
    | Thank you in advance!
    | EK
    |

O-1 classification is for an individual alien with *extraordinary ability*
in Business, Arts, Athletics, Science, or Education. I-129 is the
appropriate petition to be filed with the Service Center. Consultation with
the appropriate labor or management group is required. The beneficiary will
be admitted for specific event not to exceed 5 years.

Since you have stated that you have already talked to a lawyer about it, I
can't understand why you didn't find out what documentations are required to
apply for an O-1 visa. If things have changed, a lawyer is still the best
person to inquire about your situation.

denno

Hi,

I had an O-1 for a few years and am now an LPR. All I can suggest is that you get a really good lawyer who has a good track record with O-1 applications. From what I gathered, there is no hard and fast list of things to submit but it's really up to you to prove your "exceptional ability" status or why you belong in that "top 1%" in your field. Your lawyer is really the best person to guide you on this.

Good Luck!

D.

Ek

Thank you, denno, for your opinion. It really helps. I don't like just to
listen to what lawyer says, they say not a lot at the beginning and the most
work depend on my abilitity of provide those documents. i do believe that
it's not only lawyer, but what one can provide to prove that he/she is "at
the top or 1%" in his narrow field of science. If I look at the list of the
proves to be provided (internationals prizes, many publications in
scientific journals, memberships in crucials research societies where one
can be elected only being well established in the field) I can not prove
that. I also read that just the letters of support from HIGH people don't
help. My lawyer just says "if you will be able to obtain the letters from
high calibre people..". I am not sure what is high calibre, but I think it's
still not enough if there are so many requirements.

That's why I asked for the opinion of others.
EK

"denno" <member10698@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Originally posted by Ek
    > > Dear all,
    > >
    > > I am currently
    > on J-1 visa with 2HRR (research scholar). My J-1 will expire
    > > at the
    > end of June, 04. Currently I am interviewing for a job with the same
    > >
    > institution where I worked for 2 years on J-1. They might offer me a job
    > > soon. How difficult it is to get O-1 visa right now? I have some
    > >
    > publications, but most of them were at the international conferences. I
    > > don't have Nobel prize or other distinguished international awards
    > in my
    > > area. Two years ago a lawyer told me that it won't be a problem
    > for me to
    > > get O-1 visa. HOwever, I heard that right now it is more and
    > more difficult
    > > to get O-1 petition approved.
    > >
    > > Can anyone share
    > there recent experience? What supporting documents were
    > > submitted with
    > the petition?
    > >
    > > Thank you in advance!
    > > EK
    > Hi,
    > I had an
    > O-1 for a few years and am now an LPR. All I can suggest is that you get
    > a really good lawyer who has a good track record with O-1 applications.
    > From what I gathered, there is no hard and fast list of things to submit
    > but it's really up to you to prove your "exceptional ability" status or
    > why you belong in that "top 1%" in your field. Your lawyer is really the
    > best person to guide you on this.
    > Good Luck!
    > D.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

denno

From what I understand, of these particular types of visa is that because they are so specialized no 2 applications are going to be the same so that does add an element of greyness into the whole thing.
Make a list of what you can provide, take it to your attorney and if s/he says that it is enough to guarantee approval then you can chose to take their word for it or look for a second opinion just to be safe. Ask your attorney how many successful O-1 applications has he filed in the last 3 years. If s/he hasn't done any then, yes, you may want to find someone else but if they've done a lot you can probably safely assume that they know what they are talking about.

noboundaries

Hi,

Just wanted to add that this application relies heavily on presentation of your documents and how persuasive that is. I have experience filing these as I am an imm atty. If you like, you can send me a list of docs that you have and I can tell you if it suffices: [email protected]