Transition Services for O-1A or O-1B Visa Holders

Charlotte Extraordinary Ability Visas Law firm is pleased to provide one-of-a-kind services to international clients who currently have the O-1A or O-1B visas that are close to expiring. It is quite frequent that companies in the motion picture, visual art, culinary art and even sports industries issue only short term O-1A and O-1B visas to foreign clients who want to come to the United States to work on a certain project. These visas are typically granted for a couple of months allowing clients a certain time frame and once that project is completed this means the visa is as well. 

This becomes a problem because once the project the foreign national came to work on is completed they wish to continue working here in the United States. Since they wish to do so, our firm is pleased to help these talented individuals on these short-term visas apply for a new visa and be allowed to continue working in the United States for a period of up to three years at a time. 

Steps to take to adjust from short-term O-1A or O-1B visa to the 3 year non-immigrant visa:

Step one: Find someone different to petition the beneficiary. A petitioner is someone who signs and attests for the petition (www.oaklg.com/petitoner). This can either be one specific individual who is a citizen/permanent resident of the United States or a company that is based here in the United States. It is not necessary for the petitioner to be the beneficiary’s employer nor pay them. Often petitioners can act solely as the “Agent Petitioner”. 

There are different kinds of petitioners to choose from such as a U.S. Agent for Multiple Employers, these agents do not have to claim to have any control over the beneficiary’s career so an authorization must be secured from the foreign national’s actual future employer. Another kind of petitioner is the U.S. Functioning as the Employer, these agents actually have to claim they have input in the foreign national’s career but do not need any authorizations from any other party. And lastly, there are  U.S. Agents for Foreign Employers, typically a person or business who petitions an individual who is not in the United States and needs to attest to the fact that the foriegn national will be working for them. 

Charlotte Extraordinary Ability Visas Law Firm recommends picking the U.S. Agent for Foreign Employer option because it isn't necessary for a third party to authorize the beneficiary's new application. There are companies our firm works alongside that can act as the Agent Petitioner like SDS Talent Agency ( visit www.sdsagency.io for more information). 

Step two: Set a schedule for the forgien national for the next three years. The beneficiary needs to create a schedule of all the events in which they will compete, where they will train, or any projects they are planning to pursue and so on. Because of this we ask our clients to provide a list for just the next 12 months and then estimate activities for over the next 3 years, afterwards the client is able to add more events or new projects to the schedule after being approved. Within the first 12 months, we recommend being as accurate as possible when providing dates, salary, and responsibilities for each event/project.

Step three: The beneficiary will most likely be in the United States on the short-term O-1A or O-1B visa and will stay here while the transition takes place. The new visa MUST be applied for before the current O-1A or O-1B visa expires, if they apply before the expiration date the beneficiary is free to remain in the United States while the new application is being processed. We need to keep in mind the amount of time that passed from the expiration date to the date of the new visa decision. We recommend that there is not a time frame longer than six months to pass since this could cause a problem if the new visa is denied. 

Visa Extension Options

When filling out the I-129 form, there are multiple options to choose from to change or extend the status of the O1-A or O-1B visa. For example, Extension of Previously Approved Employment without Changes, Amendment of Previously Approved Employment, New Employment, Concurrent Employment and more. 

• New Employment or Concurrent Employment

Typically, the option for the client would be New Employment or Concurrent Employment. The foreign national that chooses Current Employment is eligible to hold two visas at once but they need to fall under the same category. The client is able to either two O-1A visas at once or two O-1B visas at once but never one of each. 

• Consular Processing

Another option for the beneficiary is choosing to do consular processing, this is when our client chooses to leave the United States after the previous O-1 visa status ends. When choosing this option, the foreign beneficiary can apply at any time they please but they will need to schedule an interview for the new O-1 status to be applied to their passport following the visa interview. There is also an opportunity to apply for an interview waiver.

(visit www.sherrodsportsvisas.com/interview-waiver for more information) 

Please visit our website (www.oandpvisas.com) or contact us for more information if you or somebody you know is interested in transitioning to a non-immigrant status from a short-term O-1A or O-1B visa.