O-1 is for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, athletics or the arts, or extraordinary achievement in film or TV. Prima.Law organizes the heavy evidence.
O-1A covers sciences, education, business and athletics. O-1B covers the arts and extraordinary achievement in motion pictures or television.
Form I-129 filed by a U.S. employer, a U.S. agent, or a foreign employer through a U.S. agent. O-2 support staff and O-3 family members may follow.
A written advisory opinion from a peer group or expert, the contract or a summary of oral terms, and an itinerary of events or activities.
Initial stay is up to three years. USCIS says file at least 45 days before employment and not more than one year before.
O-1 is a nonimmigrant classification for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business or athletics (O-1A), or in the arts, or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television (O-1B). For O-1A, extraordinary ability means a level of expertise showing the person is one of the small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field.
A U.S. employer, a U.S. agent, or a foreign employer through a U.S. agent files Form I-129 with a written advisory opinion, the contract or a summary of oral terms, and an itinerary of events or activities. USCIS says to file at least 45 days before employment and no more than one year before. Initial stays are up to three years, with extensions in increments of up to one year.
General information based on USCIS and other government guidance. Eligibility depends on each client’s facts; this is not legal advice.
Awards, press, judging invitations and letters trickle in from the beneficiary, agents and references, and gaps hide until filing.
How Prima.Law helps: The O-1A or O-1B template loads a proven checklist by active immigration lawyers for criteria, opinion, contract and itinerary; clients upload in the portal and staff mark items complete.
Hundreds of exhibits must be labeled, ordered and matched to criteria, and a misnumbered page can undercut the whole petition.
How Prima.Law helps: Package Assembly creates one indexed, paginated PDF with exhibit sheets and a table of contents, and AI Case Review checks the package before filing with page-linked answers.
After approval, the beneficiary and any O-2 or O-3 applicants abroad need DS-160s, and long CEAC sessions time out mid-form.
How Prima.Law helps: Data is prepared once in Prima.Law and the Chrome extension autofills the DS-160 on CEAC. If CEAC is slow or goes down, the data stays safe in Prima.Law and is sent again instead of retyped.
Separate templates load Form I-129 with the O supplement and a checklist built around the advisory opinion, contract and itinerary.
Smart Interviews gather awards, press, memberships and judging roles from the beneficiary, which import into the profile and forms.
Package Assembly turns hundreds of exhibits into one indexed, paginated PDF with exhibit sheets and a table of contents.
Run AI Case Review on the assembled package before filing, with answers linked to the exact pages of evidence.
Decide between O-1A and O-1B, and whether an employer, an agent or a foreign employer via agent will petition.
Obtain the written advisory opinion from a peer group, labor organization or expert in the field.
File Form I-129 with the contract or terms, itinerary and evidence, at least 45 days before employment.
After approval, the beneficiary applies for a visa abroad or changes status if already in the U.S.
EB-1A extraordinary ability, EB-1B researchers, EB-1C multinational managers.
National Interest Waiver self-petitions on Form I-140, no PERM needed.
Registration, LCA, I-129, cap-exempt petitions, extensions and transfers.
All business immigration case types in Prima.Law.
Book a demo and see how Prima.Law handles O-1 Visa cases.