O-1 visa is the alternative H-1B

You’d struggle to hold a conversation in Silicon Valley without a firm grasp of “virtual reality,” “blockchain,” or “augmented reality.” These ideas that seemed futuristic just a decade ago are peppered into almost every exchange you have here in the Valley, where entrepreneurs, engineers and disruptors are making the future the present.

The opportunities here attract the top talent from across the globe. Leaders of some of the Valley’s unicorn companies like Uber and WeWork have foreign CEOs. Many top developers in technology are immigrants who work under H-1B visas — permits for skilled, specialized labor.

But even with all the groundbreaking ideas born in Silicon Valley, employers and employees of the technology industry face two seemingly insurmountable challenges: a broken immigration system in the United States and the exodus of talent that it creates.

So how do we tackle these challenges? To keep up the break-neck speed of innovation, the Valley needs talented and visionary people to move here and stay here — not be driven away because they can’t get permission to work in the fields they lead.

O-1 Visa is underused

The workforce that powers Silicon Valley is here for now, but while workers clamour for H-1B visas, barley anyone seem to apply for the O-1 visa, a work permit for extraordinarily talented individuals.

The H-1B is a headache for everyone involved. If you understand the random, chaotic lottery that is the visa process, the stress is crippling. Workers have to convince their employers to sponsor them through a long and costly process, and then nervously wait for a decision. Some companies use this as leverage to underpay employees with no other options. The result is damning: brilliant people pass incredible opportunities and companies lose talent. Employers trying to recruit sharp, reliable talent are wary of the H-1B process and reluctant to hire people that could leave at any moment..

The hellscape of obtaining an H-1B visa can obscure the real end goal for employers and employees: recruiting the best workers to build the best companies.

So, what alternatives are left? The underused O-1 visas could be Silicon Valley’s next best secret. The daunting list of necessary documents could make an applicant think they have to be the next Michael Jackson to get their O-1 visa approved, but the reality is that most people who consider it could apply and get approved.

I know — I got one, and I learned a few things in the process. Getting an O-1 is not that hard, but like everything in life, it is about getting the right help. You need simple things: a clever applicant, a trusted specialized immigration lawyer, a sponsor and a facilitator.

The list of documents that you have to gather can look daunting, but once you compile what you need, the process is easy. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) states that:

For the O-1A visa, you must be able to produce a renowned international award like a Nobel Prize or have evidence of three of the following items:

• Other, smaller international or national prizes that display your achievements.
• Being a member of an association or organization in your field that requires extraordinary achievement for membership.
• Having published material in a journal or other media that is distinguished and related to your field.
• Any scholarly or scientific contributions of significance to your field.
• Having been the author of any scholarly articles that appear in professional journals in your field.
• A large salary that indicates your extraordinary ability
• Having been a judge or panel member critiquing other’s work in your field.
• Playing a critical role in a distinguished company or organization in your field.

USCIS also states that “To qualify for an O-1 visa, the beneficiary must demonstrate extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim and must be coming temporarily to the United States to continue work in the area of extraordinary ability.”

The word “extraordinary” is subjective and it is very likely that if you have a consistent CV and strong studies, you are skilled enough to be considered. Getting the recognition for O-1 is all about hustling your way into qualifying for the USCIS criteria.

There are 8,760 hours in a year and it is said that you need 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. So if you have studied and worked in a specific field, you may have extraordinary abilities in the field.

The H-1B is dead, let’s focus on O-1 visas. Last year 28,000 O-1 approvals. This year this number is expected to grow.

If your goal is to work in the United States, then give it a shot, you don’t have much to lose.

To figure our if you qualify for O-1 go to www.passright.com/screening