Ask HN: Anyone got an O-1 visa?
I'd like to hear some success stories of hackers who got an O-1 visa.
How long did it take, what were the pitfalls and how did you (legally) hack around the inefficient immigration system?
How long did it take, what were the pitfalls and how did you (legally) hack around the inefficient immigration system?
From their experiences, the most important thing has been national press coverage, especially through traditional media institutions, though not necessarily in print or on TV (that said, they do have both). The second most important thing was a good immigration lawyer specialising in this category - the process is long and expensive, and requires a broad set of documentation.
Letters of recommendation from inside and outside the U.S, conference speaking, research and industry whitepapers, outstanding academics can all help.
For example, in 2013 the US granted only 12,359 O-1s. Compared with almost 10 million visas total (although in fairness the majority of those were tourist/temp ones).
I suggest you read the requirements here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-1_visa
Unless you're a "big deal" in your home country for whatever it is you've accomplished you will struggle to get an O-1. Also you'll likely struggle to find too many other O-1 recipients as they just aren't that common.
Especially with the crippled H-1B system (which has over 150k applicants for a pool of 60k visas), 12.5k O-1s going out is actually pretty promising.
Because it was originally designed for performers/athletes/artists, it has the best-in-field requirements. However entrepreneurship doesn't really have such rigid rules. Get a more official understanding for samples of what could be useful here:
http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/o-1a-extraordinary-abili...
Of course national level awards, etc are useful, but also academic work is highly valued (research papers, talks, judging panel, etc).
Disclosure: I am working on filling out as many requirements of the O-1 as I possibly can right now so I can reunite with my team in the US.
Every professional opinion about the O-1 I have been given was "the more the merrier", so basically I'm trying to gather everything I have done in the last 6-7 years that could be relevant. Depend on the lawyer to help filter it.
Everyone says the success of the O-1 app is heavily dependent on the skill of your lawyer. And they will cost a bit too.
An unfortunate thing is I'm told articles about or awards won by my startup or projects do not count for much, unless I worked on them alone and it is clear in the article/award that it is to me rather than the project =/
Things I'm working on/looking at:
- I have put efforts to have articles written about me in the local newspapers back home.
- Reach out into my network to find people in the highest places (CEOs/cofounders/VCs of successful companies) who might be willing to endorse me for the "recommendation letters from experts in the field"
- Dig out data about the academic papers I co-authored in undergrad, to determine how much they're referenced/cited to measure "impactful academic publications". Google Scholar has been helpful here.
- Try to give talks about my field (health+technology, mobile development, entrepreneurship), although it's vague how applicable this is. So I'm only doing the ones where I don't have to pay to be given a speaker position (so no commercial expo type deals).
- As far as awards, so far can only mention my full tuition scholarship for college, everything else is fairly small-time or won by our company's projects and not me individually. Hoping that claiming I had a critical role to play in that works.
- Some easy checkboxes: letter from my employer (a cofounder) that I'm critical to the team. Articles published about our company to show that we're reputable, hence making me critical in a reputable company.
- Our company is still picking up, but if we can raise funding, and get some additional traction on our product, those numbers will contribute to showing that I "have made a significant business-related contribution" by stating I had a critical role in building the product responsible for our revenue.
The amount of money involved in moving a risky thing like the O-1 is the main thing keeping me from applying till we're a little more stable. I estimate it's approx 3-4 months of my runway (while I'm working from Asia) to go through this process, with no guarantee or even estimate of success :/
There aren't "plenty" of O-1 holders period, the fact you claim there are plenty who are unknown is odd. It is a rare visa.