What You Can Do Now if You Aren't Qualified for the O-1 Visa Yet

The O-1A visa for “individuals with extraordinary ability” is one of the most popular visa options for startup founders. Why?

Key benefits of the O-1A Visa

• No degree requirement: Some entrepreneurs start their first company with years of experience and an advanced degree, while others drop out of university to launch their startups. The O-1 does not require any academic degree
• No minimum salary requirement: Many founders prefer higher equity and lower salaries. Unlike other work visas, like the H-1B, the O-1 does not have a prevailing wage requirement
• Unlimited O-1 grants: There is no lottery system for the O-1 visa, allowing you to file and begin working on it at any point during the year
• Eligibility for premium processing: By paying an extra $2500 fee to the government, you can have your O-1 reviewed in 15 calendar days or less. Deel Immigration also offers a fast track option to prepare your visa in a fraction of the time a traditional immigration attorney would take
• Unlimited status extensions: The O-1 is approved in three-year increments, and extensions are likely to be approved based on USCIS's dereference policy.
• Multiple O-1 visas: If you are a serial entrepreneur, you can hold multiple O-1 visas simultaneously.

What to do If you aren't qualified for the O-1 yet

First things first, if you’ve been told that you don’t qualify for the O-1, it may still be worth talking with our team. Many startup founders come to us having already been told they don’t qualify for the O-1, only to discover they do!

For example, one of our clients, Vicki Guan, was informed by multiple immigration attorneys that she didn’t qualify for the O-1, but we were able to get her case approved. Her advice to other immigrant startup founders is this:

“No matter the answer you get from one lawyer or even multiple lawyers, you should always look for other people who have different opinions. Don’t give up easily because there are more options than you might realize.”

Vicki is one of the hundreds of startup founders we’ve helped secure O-1 visas.

Now, let’s discuss how to improve your qualifications for the O-1 visa based on our experience with hundreds of founders like you. If you're wondering how to qualify for the O-1 visa, you've come to the right place. Below, we'll go into each of the O-1 requirements and how they apply to startup founders.

General pointers

To get an O-1 visa approved, you need to meet three of eight criteria. The more criteria you can demonstrate, the better, especially if the USCIS officer reviewing your visa petition is not fully convinced of a few.

The most important step moving forward is to ensure you have sufficient documentation of all your accomplishments. In your O-1 petition, we will need to include evidence to support your qualifications for each criterion.

If you are judging a hackathon in the future, collect any flyers that may have your name on them, take pictures at the event, and gather any emails, posts, or other documentation that shows you participated as a judge. Our team uses a wide range of evidence to demonstrate that you meet each criterion.

Also, keep in mind that we can use both past and recent accomplishments. Reflect on any previous companies you have founded or worked for. Unfortunately, student-related accomplishments typically do not qualify for the O-1.

How to strengthen your O-1 profile based on each criterion

Judging

Judging the work of peers in your field, either individually or on a panel

This criterion is likely the easiest for startup founders to meet. If you went through an accelerator or incubator or are funded by VC firms, you can reach out to your contacts and express your willingness to serve on a judging panel for an upcoming event, such as a hackathon.

You can also qualify by reviewing accelerator applications, venture capital investment choices, or even academic papers if you’re in a scientific field. Ensure you have documentation that shows you judged your peers, such as emails from the organization, flyers with your name, photos from the event, or a website listing you as a judge.

Published material

Published material about you in professional publications, major trade publications, or other major media

A strong published materials criterion includes numerous press articles about you in highly circulated news outlets, such as The New York Times, CNN, Forbes, Times of India, Nasdaq, or TechCrunch.

Smaller news outlets can work too, but ensure they are highly circulated. To determine circulation, check out SimilarWeb. The higher the circulation, the more impressive it will be to USCIS.

Look for a monthly circulation in the tens of thousands, ideally hundreds of thousands or millions. Reach out to journalists and news outlets in your industry and see if they are willing to cover your work.

The more articles, the better, as long as they have good circulation. Opt for articles specifically about you, such as interviews, rather than general articles about your company. If you can only get press about your company, ensure your name is mentioned. Press does not have to be in English, but it will need to be translated. Keep in mind that press releases do not count for this criterion.

Membership

Membership in associations that require outstanding achievements, as judged by international experts

Even if you do not have a membership now, it might be easy to obtain one soon. Ideally, we seek elite organizations with a 5% or lower selection rate.

In addition to general startup, business, and technology organizations, look for organizations specific to your niche. Examples include On Deck, Forbes Business Council, IEEE, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Association for Computing Machinery.

We can also argue that business accelerators and incubators like Y Combinator, Techstars, and 500 Startups qualify as memberships.

Scholarly articles

Authorship of scholarly articles in professional publications, major trade publications, or other major media

Scholarly articles could include peer-reviewed journal articles, but for startup founders, we often use articles published on business media sites like Forbes, TechCrunch, or Harvard Business Review.

If you have not authored any articles yet or have only a few, consider reaching out to news outlets mentioned above or smaller industry-specific outlets. Pitch them an article idea or send a pre-written article related to your work.

If you are the founder of a startup in the Crypto space, pitch articles about trends in the industry, tips for emerging companies, or your own story.

Critical employment

Employed in a critical or essential capacity at a company with a distinguished reputation

For this criterion, we need to show two things: (1) you were/are a critical employee and (2) at a company with a distinguished reputation.

As a founder, you meet the critical employee part. The second part requires focus on your company's reputation. If you are in the early stages, consider getting press coverage about your company.

This will help meet both the critical employment and published materials criteria. Additionally, aim to get into accelerators or secure grants or awards for your company, including venture capital funding.

Other accomplishments that strengthen your company's reputation include gaining new partnerships, growing your user base, increasing app downloads/reviews, and any indicators of success and growth. Ensure you document all of this, including any previous roles at other companies.

Original contributions

Original contributions of major significance to your field

For this criterion, we must show that you have created something original and significantly impactful to your field. In many cases, this is the technology or business model your startup has developed.

Getting a patent for widely used technology is the most effective way to meet this criterion, but we know patents can be tedious and time-consuming. If you aren’t planning to patent your invention, we can use other evidence to demonstrate your originality.

Evidence could include patents, white papers, business plans, or letters of testimony from experts in your field describing what makes your work unique. Evidence of major significance can be similar to what is needed for the critical employment criterion.

You can also include technology or business models you created at previous companies.

High remuneration

You have commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration

For high remuneration, we seek evidence that you have been paid well above others in the same role in your city. This could include your past salary, bonuses, and equity from previous employers or what you will earn once you secure a visa for your new startup.

A high salary will always hold more weight than a low salary with high equity, but equity can strengthen your overall criteria. Check out Glassdoor, Salary.com, Indeed, and other salary comparison websites.

You want a salary that is similar to or higher than the top earners in your role and city. While increasing your salary overnight might not be feasible for everyone, it is worth considering if you just raised a new funding round.

However, do not raise your salary temporarily and then lower it after your visa is approved, as this could negatively impact future O-1 extension applications.

Awards

Nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in your field

Strengthening your awards criteria quickly can be challenging, but there are strategies to consider. The strongest awards are those offered to you as an individual. We need to show that these awards are “nationally or internationally recognized” and awarded for your “excellence in the field.”

Examples include a Stevie Award or a Forbes 30 Under 30 award. As a startup founder, we can argue that any awards or accolades your company has received are also your awards, including raising venture capital funding or traditional awards like a World Economic Forum New Champions award or Africa Tech Awards.

Strengthen your O-1 profile with Deel Immigration

If you haven’t already talked to our team about the O-1 visa, it is worth scheduling a free consultation so we can provide an expert opinion on your qualifications.

If you have already consulted with our team, congratulations on taking your immigration journey into your own hands and working on strengthening your profile!