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Our EB1A journey
Hello all
Just sharing our Eb1A journey for anyone interested! We originally approached a (recommended to us) NYC attorney to start an application for an O1 visa. I am an academic and H is an art director. However, they advised us that they thought the EB1A a better fit for us. We'd never heard of this route - we have several friends in the States via O1 - so it was all a bit nervewracking but we trusted the attorney so we started the process. We obtained some templates for the recommendation letters and I gathered around 10 I think. To be honest, this was the longest part of the whole journey (maybe 6 months and only then because we were getting married and I was slow with requesting letters - also it's sooo hard to ask people to verify that you're an "expert", it seems so narcissistic to me - anyway I digress). We paid for premium processing and had a positive response within about 5 days of submitting the to the NVSC. We then set about gathering the documents they requested. We both made errors at this stage. I sent the short form of my birth certificate and my H forgot to send court documents due to a DDI (more on that later). This held up things for maybe 2 additional months but once they were received we had an interview date just a few weeks later. Another error we made at this stage was to get our medical s too early. This was our attorney's error actually. We obtained the medicals in NYC as we were visiting (side note, it's so much cheaper there, and we were even able to obtain our shots for free as the doc recommended a public facility). However by the time the interview came round, the new "gonorrhea" test was introduced and our meds were out of date anyway. So we had to do them all again at Knightsbridge in London. This was the worst part of the whole journey. They refused to accept any of the shots we obtained in NYC (even though we got them just a few months earlier and had complete records) not any of our childhood shots. The total bill - £800. Luckily our attorney, feeling guilty, refunded this. A few days later we went to the Embassy in London for the 'interview'. H was terrified about this due to the DDI (8 years earlier). It couldn't have been easier. We arrived around 11 and we're finished by 12:30. We got one question each (what do you do?) and the officer reassured my husband that the DDI was unproblematic. We got our passports back within the week and arrived in LA three weeks later! The whole process took around 11 months and could have been quicker had I been faster at the earlier stages. Good luck to anyone considering this route. It seems to be fairly unusual (when arriving in the US recently, the CBP guy even had to take advice as to how to process us), but it's worth it. Now to find a home and a job! Should be easy, right?! ;) |
Re: Our EB1A journey
Congratulations. Hope you will enjoy living and working in the US.
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Re: Our EB1A journey
Originally Posted by catlover3
(Post 12150407)
We obtained some templates for the recommendation letters and I gathered around 10 I think. To be honest, this was the longest part of the whole journey (maybe 6 months and only then because we were getting married and I was slow with requesting letters - also it's sooo hard to ask people to verify that you're an "expert", it seems so narcissistic to me - anyway I digress).
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Re: Our EB1A journey
Originally Posted by GeoffM
(Post 12156108)
Congratulations! On the recommendation letters: yes, I found this part awkward too. I tell others to just swallow their pride and go for it. If you don't ask, you certainly won't get - and chances are you'll be pleasantly surprised at the things people will write about you.
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Re: Our EB1A journey
Originally Posted by catlover3
(Post 12150407)
Hello all
Just sharing our Eb1A journey for anyone interested! We originally approached a (recommended to us) NYC attorney to start an application for an O1 visa. I am an academic and H is an art director. However, they advised us that they thought the EB1A a better fit for us. We'd never heard of this route - we have several friends in the States via O1 - so it was all a bit nervewracking but we trusted the attorney so we started the process. We obtained some templates for the recommendation letters and I gathered around 10 I think. To be honest, this was the longest part of the whole journey (maybe 6 months and only then because we were getting married and I was slow with requesting letters - also it's sooo hard to ask people to verify that you're an "expert", it seems so narcissistic to me - anyway I digress). We paid for premium processing and had a positive response within about 5 days of submitting the to the NVSC. We then set about gathering the documents they requested. We both made errors at this stage. I sent the short form of my birth certificate and my H forgot to send court documents due to a DDI (more on that later). This held up things for maybe 2 additional months but once they were received we had an interview date just a few weeks later. Another error we made at this stage was to get our medical s too early. This was our attorney's error actually. We obtained the medicals in NYC as we were visiting (side note, it's so much cheaper there, and we were even able to obtain our shots for free as the doc recommended a public facility). However by the time the interview came round, the new "gonorrhea" test was introduced and our meds were out of date anyway. So we had to do them all again at Knightsbridge in London. This was the worst part of the whole journey. They refused to accept any of the shots we obtained in NYC (even though we got them just a few months earlier and had complete records) not any of our childhood shots. The total bill - £800. Luckily our attorney, feeling guilty, refunded this. A few days later we went to the Embassy in London for the 'interview'. H was terrified about this due to the DDI (8 years earlier). It couldn't have been easier. We arrived around 11 and we're finished by 12:30. We got one question each (what do you do?) and the officer reassured my husband that the DDI was unproblematic. We got our passports back within the week and arrived in LA three weeks later! The whole process took around 11 months and could have been quicker had I been faster at the earlier stages. Good luck to anyone considering this route. It seems to be fairly unusual (when arriving in the US recently, the CBP guy even had to take advice as to how to process us), but it's worth it. Now to find a home and a job! Should be easy, right?! ;) Thanks for your sharing your experience about EB1A process. My application for EB1A has recently approved without Attorney via reading various forums and using online USCIS website help. Currently in process to send documents to NVC but struggling to have my head around, do i need to fill in AOS? Thanks for your help in advance. ZA |
Re: Our EB1A journey
Congratulations!
We did consular processing so there was no need. Is that what you're doing? |
Re: Our EB1A journey
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Re: Our EB1A journey
Congratulations! Well deserved by the looks of it.
I have previously been recommended by an attorney to go with O1 but thought its highly unlikely I will get it (even though I'm an expert in my field, if I can say so) however it does seem rpetty straight forward. Did you need to get recommendation letters from anyone in a priveleged position or just people you have worked with / reported to? Also, how much did the whole thing cost? |
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