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The O-1 is a nonimmigrant visa[1], but my understanding is that it's also one of the few nonimmigrant visas that USCIS allows for dual-intent consideration. Ev

The O-1 is a nonimmigrant visa[1], but my understanding is that it's also one of the few nonimmigrant visas that USCIS allows for dual-intent consideration. Eventually, you have to go through additional steps to convert to an immigrant visa (e.g. be sponsored by your (own) company, or marrying an American, etc.). [1] https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-individuals-with-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary...

CobrastanJorji 3y ago
Right. The O-1, the "extraordinary ability" visa, is easily confused with the EB-1, sometimes called the "Einstein visa." The latter is for those seeking permanent residency, and the former is not. The EB-1 became notorious a few years back in some circles when it was pointed out that the first lady had gotten one for modeling, but like this article points out, the criteria to get one is not as insurmountable as it might seem from the official examples, which will suggest things like Olympic medals, Pulitzer prizes, etc. Being on magazine covers and making a lot of money makes for a pretty solid case to acquire one.
- x86x87 3y ago
  EB-1 is not a visa. It's a category for permanent residence application. It's not an Einstein "visa" by any means. https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-for-employment-based-immigrants https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/gree... You can have extraordinary abilities or you can be a manager at bigcorp. Yes, being a manager will most times qualify you for an EB-1 bracket.
  - CobrastanJorji 3y ago
    What makes it not a visa? It's permission to enter the U.S., that's what a visa is, isn't it? Also, I that's it's pretty common to call it that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-1_visa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-1_visa But yes, the majority of recipients get them because they're managers at big companies.
    - BeetleB 3y ago
      > It's permission to enter the U.S., that's what a visa is, isn't it? I don't think so. You can't get EB-1 status unless you are already on some visa (H-1, O-1, etc). Once you start the green card process, at some point, you'll get paperwork letting you travel even though the green card has not yet been approved. Prior to that, you cannot unless your existing visa (H-1, etc) is still valid. EB-1/2/3 are categories under which you apply for a green card - they are not visas.
      - neuralengine 3y ago
        That’s false. You can apply for EB visas from outside the US. After the approval of the I-140 (application for employment-based visa), instead of “adjustment” of your visa status in the US, you perform immigrant visa processing at your local consulate to get your green card. You can still travel after filing the I-140 but not after filing the I-485 (adjustment) without advance parole.
        returningfory2 3y ago
        Not sure why this comment is being downvoted. It's exactly right: you can apply for EB visas (or any other permanent resident classification you're eligible for) without any prior connection to the US and get an "immigrant visa" in your passport to travel to the US.
        x86x87 3y ago
        There is no such thing as EB visas. While your greencard is processed you can indefinitely renew your current visa (eg HB1 you get it for 3 years and can renew only once, with application pending you can keep renewing it). Also, Green Card has different stages with their own limitations PERM -> I140 -> I485 -> green card.
        returningfory2 3y ago
        The US Department of State has a webpage literally called "Employment-Based Immigrant Visas": https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/employment-based-immigrant-visas.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrat... It's not common for people with no prior connection to the US get one of these, but it is 100% possible. You can look up statistics on the number of employment green card visas issued here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/v... In the PDF you need to search for E1, E2, etc.
  - js2 3y ago
    USCIS calls it a visa in the first sentence: https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-first-preference-eb-1 https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent... You may be eligible for an employment-based, first-preference visa if you are a noncitizen of extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a certain multinational executive or manager.
    - paxys 3y ago
      It wouldn't be the first government website with confusing wording. They call it visa, but practically "EB-1 visa" = green card. There's no intermediate stage between the two. There's no sticker on your passport that says EB-1. You can't use your EB-1 status to enter the country or work or anything else. EB-1 simply means that you jump to the front of the line to get a green card.
      - x86x87 3y ago
        even more. there is no difference in the process (as far as how the process works, not time spent waiting) between EB1, EB2, EB3. Also, calling it a visa is misleading. The Green Card gives you the right to reside here permanently and you don't need any visa once you have it. So it's not a visa, and even if it was a visa it would be the Green Card that would be called out, not the bucket through which you get it.
    - x86x87 3y ago
      I don't want to fight in the semantics dome, but they do not. > You may be eligible for an employment-based, first-preference visa if you are a noncitizen of extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a certain multinational executive or manager. the employment-based, first-preference visa they are talking about is the green card. they were also lazy and did not update the wording
    - elevatedastalt 3y ago
      There is a difference between what USCIS calls a Visa and what the rest of the world actually means when they say a Visa. For eg. Green Cards (== aka Permanent Residency, which no one in their sane minds calls a Visa), are actually issued against what USCIS calls a "visa number". So OP is correct that O-1 is a visa (as that word is understood generally in the world), and EB-1A is a category of Employment Based Permanent Residence filing.
  - fernirello 3y ago
    U.S. permanent residency is a visa. It's an immigrant visa, obviously, like several other categories; meaning that it's permissible to state that the applicant has immigrant intent.

CobrastanJorji 3y ago

Right. The O-1, the "extraordinary ability" visa, is easily confused with the EB-1, sometimes called the "Einstein visa." The latter is for those seeking permanent residency, and the former is not. The EB-1 became notorious a few years back in some circles when it was pointed out that the first lady had gotten one for modeling, but like this article points out, the criteria to get one is not as insurmountable as it might seem from the official examples, which will suggest things like Olympic medals, Pulitzer prizes, etc. Being on magazine covers and making a lot of money makes for a pretty solid case to acquire one.

x86x87 3y ago
EB-1 is not a visa. It's a category for permanent residence application. It's not an Einstein "visa" by any means. https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-for-employment-based-immigrants https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/gree... You can have extraordinary abilities or you can be a manager at bigcorp. Yes, being a manager will most times qualify you for an EB-1 bracket.
- CobrastanJorji 3y ago
  What makes it not a visa? It's permission to enter the U.S., that's what a visa is, isn't it? Also, I that's it's pretty common to call it that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-1_visa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-1_visa But yes, the majority of recipients get them because they're managers at big companies.
  - BeetleB 3y ago
    > It's permission to enter the U.S., that's what a visa is, isn't it? I don't think so. You can't get EB-1 status unless you are already on some visa (H-1, O-1, etc). Once you start the green card process, at some point, you'll get paperwork letting you travel even though the green card has not yet been approved. Prior to that, you cannot unless your existing visa (H-1, etc) is still valid. EB-1/2/3 are categories under which you apply for a green card - they are not visas.
    - neuralengine 3y ago
      That’s false. You can apply for EB visas from outside the US. After the approval of the I-140 (application for employment-based visa), instead of “adjustment” of your visa status in the US, you perform immigrant visa processing at your local consulate to get your green card. You can still travel after filing the I-140 but not after filing the I-485 (adjustment) without advance parole.
      - returningfory2 3y ago
        Not sure why this comment is being downvoted. It's exactly right: you can apply for EB visas (or any other permanent resident classification you're eligible for) without any prior connection to the US and get an "immigrant visa" in your passport to travel to the US.
      - x86x87 3y ago
        There is no such thing as EB visas. While your greencard is processed you can indefinitely renew your current visa (eg HB1 you get it for 3 years and can renew only once, with application pending you can keep renewing it). Also, Green Card has different stages with their own limitations PERM -> I140 -> I485 -> green card.
        returningfory2 3y ago
        The US Department of State has a webpage literally called "Employment-Based Immigrant Visas": https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/employment-based-immigrant-visas.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrat... It's not common for people with no prior connection to the US get one of these, but it is 100% possible. You can look up statistics on the number of employment green card visas issued here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/v... In the PDF you need to search for E1, E2, etc.
- js2 3y ago
  USCIS calls it a visa in the first sentence: https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-first-preference-eb-1 https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent... You may be eligible for an employment-based, first-preference visa if you are a noncitizen of extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a certain multinational executive or manager.
  - paxys 3y ago
    It wouldn't be the first government website with confusing wording. They call it visa, but practically "EB-1 visa" = green card. There's no intermediate stage between the two. There's no sticker on your passport that says EB-1. You can't use your EB-1 status to enter the country or work or anything else. EB-1 simply means that you jump to the front of the line to get a green card.
    - x86x87 3y ago
      even more. there is no difference in the process (as far as how the process works, not time spent waiting) between EB1, EB2, EB3. Also, calling it a visa is misleading. The Green Card gives you the right to reside here permanently and you don't need any visa once you have it. So it's not a visa, and even if it was a visa it would be the Green Card that would be called out, not the bucket through which you get it.
  - x86x87 3y ago
    I don't want to fight in the semantics dome, but they do not. > You may be eligible for an employment-based, first-preference visa if you are a noncitizen of extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a certain multinational executive or manager. the employment-based, first-preference visa they are talking about is the green card. they were also lazy and did not update the wording
  - elevatedastalt 3y ago
    There is a difference between what USCIS calls a Visa and what the rest of the world actually means when they say a Visa. For eg. Green Cards (== aka Permanent Residency, which no one in their sane minds calls a Visa), are actually issued against what USCIS calls a "visa number". So OP is correct that O-1 is a visa (as that word is understood generally in the world), and EB-1A is a category of Employment Based Permanent Residence filing.
- fernirello 3y ago
  U.S. permanent residency is a visa. It's an immigrant visa, obviously, like several other categories; meaning that it's permissible to state that the applicant has immigrant intent.