Visa O1 Green card EB-1

O-1A US talent visa petition for designers

In 2023, I obtained the US O-1A visa for talented designers and developers. My petition was approved without any additional requests (RFE) in just 5 days.

I wrote the petition myself, without the help of lawyers, which I recommend everyone to do. To assist everyone, I am sharing the full text of the petition. Free of charge.

The petition covers 8 out of 8 criteria and has a volume of 616 pages.

The information provided on this site is intended solely for general informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice. I am not an attorney and do not have the authority to provide legal advice. All decisions and actions related to the petition should be made based on your own judgment and/or with the consultation of a qualified attorney.

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I don’t charge a single cent for my petition. But if you still want to show your appreciation, you can buy me a coffee or make me happy with cryptocurrency:

What and for who

O-1 visas are officially referred to as visas for individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement. The requirements for these visas are described on the website of the US immigration services, or USCIS.

O-1 visas come in two types:

I applied for the O-1A visa. In the petition, my profession is referred to as “Product Designer and Developer” because I not only create the design for websites and mobile applications but also write the software code for them.

My petition will definitely be applicable to professions such as UI/UX Designer, Web Designer, Mobile Designer, and other related fields. Web Developers and Mobile Developers can also find valuable information in my petition.

For other professions, the petition can serve as a useful example. Personally, I used the petition by Razvan Marinescu in the field of medicine as a reference: Razvan Marinescu’s petition.

Criteria for O-1A visa

According to the requirements by USCIS, to obtain an O-1A visa, one must either have received a major international award comparable to a Nobel Prize or meet at least 3 out of the 8 criteria.

  1. Receipt of an international or national award,
  2. Membership in associations that require outstanding achievements,
  3. Publications in the press about the beneficiary or his works,
  4. Experience in judging or evaluating works as part of a jury or individually,
  5. Evidence of original contributions to the professional field,
  6. Authorship of articles in peer-reviewed journals or press,
  7. Employment in a key position in a company with a distinguished reputation,
  8. High salary.

In addition, the petition should include:

  1. Several recommendation letters from experts and colleagues,
  2. Advisory opinion letter from an expert panel,
  3. A signed contract with an employer or job offer.

The criteria are usually described in the petition in order of decreasing strength of evidence. For example, if there are high-level awards, it is advisable to start with the awards. Conversely, membership in an association that accepts every second person should be placed at the end of the petition.

It is not advisable to submit a petition that only meets 3 criteria. Visa officers are likely to identify weaknesses in the description and issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) for additional proof. The more criteria are satisfied in the petition, the lower the chances of denial, but there is no guarantee of approval.

Typically, multiple pieces of evidence are provided for each criterion, but it is not mandatory. For instance, having just one high-level award will be sufficient. It is recommended to have 3-5 press publications and an equal number of individual articles.

In my petition, all 8 out of 8 criteria are met in the following order:

  1. Awards:
    1. A’ Design Awards – Iron,
    2. CSS Design Awards – Site of the Day,
    3. CSS Winner – Site of the Day,
    4. Awwwards – Honorable Mention,
    5. Design Rush – Site of the Month,
    6. Orpetron – Site of the Day,
    7. Design Nominees – Site of the Day.
  2. Publications in the press:
    1. ScienceTimes, scientific news,
    2. TechTimes, technology news,
    3. “Chemistry is Easy”, a YouTube channel,
    4. RBC Pro, a business publication,
    5. Design Rush, a design business magazine,
    6. Awdee, a design magazine,
    7. BroDude, a men’s magazine,
    8. Big City, a Moscow life magazine,
    9. Russia-2, a TV channel.
  3. Authorship of articles:
    1. Scatter Plot Design – UX Collective magazine,
    2. Graph Design. Lines – UX Collective magazine,
    3. Graph Design. Scales – UX Collective magazine,
    4. Design of Complex Tables – UX Collective magazine,
    5. Fitts’s Law in Mobile Operating Systems – “Bulletin of Scientific Conferences” journal,
    6. Fitts’s Law in Modern Operating Systems – “Bulletin of Scientific Conferences” journal,
    7. History of Design in Russia and Europe 19th–21st Century – “Scientific Almanac” journal.
  4. Original contribution to the field. Article on table design was extensively cited.
  5. Key position in a company with a distinguished reputation:
    1. Sovcombank – Lead UI/UX Designer of Skybonds platform,
    2. Love Media Studio – Art Director.
  6. High salary.
  7. Membership in associations:
    1. IAD – International Association of Designers,
    2. Awdee authors.
  8. Jury participation. Judge of the Orpetron design contest.

The number and which criteria were considered by the visa officer are unknown because officers only provide feedback in case of denial.

My petition also includes the following attachments:

  1. Six recommendation letters:
    1. From experts to confirm original contributions to the field,
    2. From management and colleagues to confirm a key position.
  2. Advisory opinion from AIGA — the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Provided upon request after reviewing your portfolio. Cost: $250.
  3. Contract with the employer.

Evidence base

Each criterion requires its own set of evidence, which, although described on the USCIS website, can be vague and complex. I have compiled my own list that will help you.

  1. Awards:
    1. The award must be personalized with your name. If the name is not specified, you will need to separately prove your participation.
    2. International or national recognition of the award is proven by press references or award reports from well-known companies.
    3. It is necessary to provide information about the jury composition, contest rules, criteria for selecting winners, and award categories.
    4. It is advisable to mention the number of participants and winners.
  2. Publications in the press:
    1. Must be about you or your work. You or your work do not necessarily have to be the sole subject of the publication.
    2. It’s not necessary for the publication to describe you as outstanding or your works as masterpieces. A simple story is sufficient.
    3. If a publication about your work does not name you, you need to separately prove that it is indeed your work.
    4. Articles without a date, title, and journalist’s name are not accepted.
    5. YouTube videos, podcasts, and other formats are suitable and are provided in the form of a text transcript.
    6. The press is divided into major media and professional or major trade media.
    7. Major media are general news publications. If the publication is in major media, a comparative analysis of the audience is required, indicating the publication’s place in the overall ranking.
    8. Professional or major trade media are professional and industry publications on a narrow range of topics read by a limited audience. For example, only designers or only metropolitan residents up to 35 years old. For these, no comparative analysis is required according to the Zizi v. Cuccinelli court decision.
    9. Each publication must be clearly classified as either major media or professional or major trade media.
    10. For all publications, attendance is shown, which for websites is often taken from SimilarWeb. Officers do not always accept this source. Find information in independent press or use other services, like pr-cy.io. It’s important that the statistics are labeled as web traffic or site visitors.
    11. In my petition, mentions of publications by more authoritative media are attached. This is unnecessary and should not be done.
  3. Authorship of articles:
    1. The journal where the article is published must be peer-reviewed.
    2. Information about circulation and topics must be provided.
    3. It is advisable to talk about the editorial board.
    4. You must be signed as the author or one of the authors.
    5. The more your field is related to science, the more attention should be paid to the citation of articles. For a designer, this is not important, but for a physicist, it is mandatory. Similarly, for scientists, proper article formatting is important: footnotes, bibliography, etc.
    6. Presentations at conferences of national or international significance are suitable.
  4. Original contribution to the field:
    1. Recommendation letters from experts.
    2. Patents. It is not mandatory to prove implementation, but it is desirable.
    3. Evidence of application, usage reports.
    4. Mentions in the press, citations of your work, etc.
  5. Key position in a company with a distinguished reputation:
    1. A key position is proven by contracts or letters from management and colleagues with a detailed description of your responsibilities, achievements, and the importance of your work to the company.
    2. The distinguished reputation of the company is proven by awards and press mentions. The size, age, and fame of the company are not strict proofs.
  6. High salary:
    1. Proven by comparing with the average salary in your profession in your region.
    2. Several sources are attached: government statistics, Salary Expert, salary research in the press, etc.
    3. The salary is reliably considered high if it is at least one and a half times above the market rate.
    4. Officers often require proving that the salary is high among the salaries of experts in your field. The court in the case of Buletini v. INS ruled that this is an improper requirement.
  7. Jury participation.
    1. It is necessary to show that only experts are invited to the jury.
    2. Being a member of a jury is not enough; active participation in judging is required.
    3. Peer review or auditing someone else’s work is equivalent to judging.
  8. Membership in associations.
    1. A charter or admission rules must be provided, clearly stating that admission is only for significant contributions to the field or outstanding achievements.
    2. It is important to show that the admission committee consists of experts.
    3. It is necessary to clearly indicate the achievements for which you were accepted.

Regarding additional items:

  1. Recommendation letters:
    1. Should not be written abstractly praising you, but should reinforce the criteria for which there is a lack of direct evidence.
    2. Do not necessarily have to be from your acquaintances.
    3. Should contain the name, phone number, email, physical address, and signature of the letter’s author.
  2. Advisory opinion:
    1. Requested from an organization from the list of organizations on the USCIS website according to profession.
    2. In certain cases, replaced by a letter from a union or a private expert.
  3. Contract with the employer:
    1. Mandatory, but it seems that a job offer is also accepted.
    2. Replaced by an agent contract for certain professions in the film and arts industry.
    3. Can be concluded with you on behalf of your own company. However, you must prove that you can be fired, meaning you do not solely own the company. Usually, a company is opened with a partner, and you are allocated a share of less than 50%. The partner does not have to be a citizen, have a green card, or live in the USA.

All documents are translated into English. The originals are also attached. Anyone proficient in English can act as a translator; no certification is required.

Composing petition

The petition consists of the following parts:

  1. Cover page,
  2. Forms i-907 (for expedited processing) and i-129,
  3. Documents (passport scan, form i-94, etc.),
  4. Explanatory note – the main text of the petition,
  5. Attached evidence (Exhibits).

The petition is structured similarly to a term paper, thesis, or scientific work. It is not difficult for someone with higher education. My petition, specifically the accompanying explanatory memorandum, is formatted based on the Russia’s GOST 7.32–2001 standard.

  1. Paper format: American Letter,
  2. Font: Times New Roman, 14 point,
  3. Line spacing: 1.5,
  4. Text alignment: justified without indentation,
  5. Page margins:
    1. Top and bottom: 0.78 inches,
    2. Left: 1.2 inches,
    3. Right: 0.4 inches.
  6. Consecutive page numbering in the bottom right corner of the page,
  7. Consecutive section numbering with hierarchy,
  8. Headings of four levels of different size and font weight.

Meticulous formatting of the petition is crucially important. There are numerous examples where strong petitions were denied due to unclear structure and poor presentation. Visa officers review hundreds of petitions, and their work is poorly compensated, so there is a possibility of emotional assessment of the petitions.

Illustrations are not recommended in the text of the explanatory note. All illustrations are included in the section of attached evidence called Exhibits. This is equivalent to a bibliography in a thesis. The only difference is that the bibliography is not included in the diploma, but for the petition, all evidence must be attached.

For example, each award is accompanied not only by a diploma but also by a description of the competition, the composition of the jury, the evaluation methodology, and so on. For every mention of you in the press, a printout of the webpage with the publication, website traffic statistics, information about the publisher, etc., is attached.

That is why the petition takes up hundreds of pages. The explanatory note itself is rarely longer than 30-50 pages, while the rest consists of printouts of websites, awards, contracts, and the like.

Each piece of evidence is placed in a separate Exhibit, which is assigned a number. The petition text includes a reference to this Exhibit, enclosed in square brackets.

There are many requirements, and they may appear complex. However, it is easier for the reader to see my petition once in order to write their own based on it.

Why not lawyer?

TV series popularize the image of an American lawyer as a sneaky professional who knows all the loopholes in the law. My personal experience shows that many lawyers in the United States are illiterate and their quality of work is comparable to that of fraudsters.

The advice to choose the “right lawyer” and verify their license does not work. I have seen petitions written by well-known lawyers with columns in Forbes who charge $10,000 for their services. Their petitions were written so poorly that the officer didn’t approve a single criterion.

There is a known case where a prominent lawyer prepared a petition for a programmer in the field of... arts. This petition was demolished by the visa officer, and the client lost a significant amount of money and had to write a new petition on his own.

The lawyer does not write the petition themselves. Behind the lawyer, there are a dozen paralegals who work freelance. The lawyer only provides consultation and sells services. The advice to “not go to paralegal” is meaningless — lawyers don’t write anything themselves, and the cost ends up being twice as high. In visa O-1 courts, lawyers do not represent clients, often suggesting simply filing the petition again.

The cost of such services ranges from $7,000 to $13,000. For a response to an additional officer’s request, lawyers charge an additional $2,000. The filing fee is paid separately. Postal services, printing, and translation are also paid separately. The final cost can reach $15,000 to $20,000.

Even if your petition is not approved on the first attempt, for such a fee, you can resubmit the petition up to 4 more times.

Furthermore, the client still does the majority of the work. The lawyer only writes a 30-page explanatory note. The client gathers and inserts all the evidence on the remaining 500 pages into the petition themselves.

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The fear of preparing the petition independently is caused by the lack of examples and the culture of trading information prevalent in the United States.

I believe that government information should be accessible to all individuals, regardless of their social status and income.

I believe that technology is reforming legislation. We are told that ignorance of the law does not exempt from responsibility. But how can one “know the law” when it is written in a language that even someone with a higher education is unable to understand?

The future of legislation is artificial intelligence providing consultations based on a codex embedded in it. Petitions spanning hundreds or thousands of pages that are printed on paper are an archaism inconceivable in the 21st century and incompatible with the green economy.

Due to the opaque immigration system, America is starting to lose the competitive battle for talent. Few people want to pay tens of thousands of dollars to lawyers who take weeks to respond and lose straightforward cases.

I am convinced that the system for obtaining O and EB visas should be completely overhauled and reduced to submitting a 10-page PDF file via email to USCIS.

While drafting my petition for the first time, I was infuriated by the level of absurdity through which talent had to go to enter America. I want to make a contribution and help fulfill the dreams of those who deserve it but lack the strength and resources. That is why I undertook this titanic effort, which I am sharing with you without asking for a single cent in return.