My experiences with O visa ...
An overview of my approach to O visa:
. I have a masters degree in computer science with experience of 8 years.
. I have expertise in the field of Large Scale Distributed Computing for Internet Telephony.
. I have three publications and co-author of a specification at Java Community process.
. My company is based at NJ and Texas, so we applied at both the centres.
. I have opted for premium processing by paying 1000$ extra and got the approval in 3 days.
. I got an approval from Texas and so withdrew the other pettition, because last action law states
that the last pettition decision is final.
. I was on H1B visa prior to obtaining an O visa.
. I work for a small company working on good technology.
Regarding chances, you should definitely give it a shot.
You have to find a good lawyer to present the case and you should be very pro-active.
The attorney\'s are expensive as I had to pay 10000$ for this process.
Once you make this decision, evaluate the following criteria.
1) How co-operative is your employer?
2) Is your employer a fortune 500 company?
Provide as much information about the company as you can. For a small company it helps.
3) I had 10 reference letters and INS expects around 5.
Important thing to note about letters
geographical distribution of the letters.(e.g., 2 US, 2 Europe, 1 India etc.,).
should be strongly written stating that you have extrodinary ability.
should have acclaim ( praise, compliments and acheivements )
should be able to translate every acheivement to something tangible.
e.g., a product you worked won an award, service that you built solved a specific problem
in the industry or project you worked made a difference to your company etc.
quotes from the letter are used in pettion sections, so get the following content in letters
their expertise, bio and acheivements
praise of your expertise
statements that translate your acheivements
statements that you judged and reviewed others work (helped hiring, reviwed design etc)
strongly recommending your case for visa
get letters from people in old projects, this demonstrates sustained acclaim.
geographical spread provides national and international repute.
get letters from people who are known in the field of your expertise but did not work together.
get only one letter from the place you currently work as they have vested interest.
4) There is a peer advisory opinion which should be from a professor or a professional who is not
related to you at work. This basically states his expertise in the field to judge you, his
assessment of the position and responsibilities you are currently holding in the company.
5) A decent salary should be posted for you as this is a criteria to show that you are paid more
than peers in your industry.
6) awards, publications, papers are definitely a plus
7) affiliations to professional organizations are good.
8) A letter from your management stating that you are important and the direct consequence of not
having you in terms of project slides, revenues etc.
It all depends on how you present the information. Any please please send me an email.
