O-1 Visa News

USCIS Now Accepting Copies of Negative O Visa Consultations Directly from Labor Unions

Effective immediately, USCIS will begin accepting copies of negative consultation letters directly from labor unions relating to a current or future O nonimmigrant visa petition request. O-1 and O-2 nonimmigrant visas are available to individuals with extraordinary ability in science, education, business, athletics, or the arts, and individuals with extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry, and certain essential support personnel. A consultation letter from a U.S.

National Hockey League (NHL) and Vermont Service Center Meeting

The National Hockey League (NHL) requested USCIS to hold a teleconference during its annual conference. During that teleconference, NHL counsel posed several questions to USCIS. The question and answers are provided below (see attachment) for the benefit of interested stakeholders.In order to avoid repetition in the answers, USCIS notes that it stated several times that each petition mustestablish visa eligibility on its own merits. The Vermont Service Center (VSC) does not maintain acentral document depository for O and P nonimmigrant visa petitions.

USCIS Update on O-1 Visa (Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement)

The O-1 nonimmigrant visa is for the individual who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements.
The O nonimmigrant classification is commonly referred to as:

USCIS Draft Memorandum for Comment

USCIS seeks your input on the draft memoranda listed below.  These memoranda are drafts of proposed or revised guidance to USCIS Field Offices and Service Centers.  They are not intended as guidance for the general public, nor are they intended to create binding legal requirements on the public.  Until issued in final form, the draft memoranda do not constitute agency policy in any way or for any purpose.

USCIS Clarifies Requirements For Agents Filing as Petitioners For the O and P Visa Classification

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued guidance on October 7, 2009  to clarify for performing arts associations and their members the regulatory requirements for agents who file as petitioners for the O and P visa classification.


O and P visas apply to non-immigrants with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics, or in the motion picture and television field.  O and P petitions may only be filed by a U.S. employer, a U.S. agent, or a foreign employer through a U.S. agent.