O-1 visa for lead software engineer and start-up founder from India

This leading software engineer was working for a big corporate company under an H-1B Visa, and was also a start-up founder. He was looking for a way to work for his start-up full-time. We will share what strategies were taken to successfully prepare his O-1A application in just eight short weeks. His petition was approved with no RFE. 

We hope that his story will give you some insight and inspiration for your own immigration journey!

Summary

Service: O-1A Visa

Who: Lead software engineer from India working for a big corporate company under an H-1B Visa, and also a start-up founder, who was looking for options to work for his start-up full-time.

Challenge: Client originally met only 2 criteria for the O-1A Visa and, in the meantime, had created his startup while positioned under the H-1B with a corporate company.

Solution: With our attorney’s help, the client understood what type of evidence was missing to build a successful petition.

Result: O-1A Visa has now been approved with no RFE. 

Timeline: around 5.5 months.

Client’s story

Our featured client is an Indian gentleman who had been employed as a lead software engineer in the U.S. under an H-1B Visa for several years. He had an approved I-140 under an EB-2 PERM, and was also a co-founder of a start-up company. He came to us for help, as his goal was to transfer his employment to his start-up and he needed flexibility in regards to the salary requirements. 

Our attorney had to make a difficult choice between two options: proposing an H-1B transfer from his current employer to his start-up, or applying for an O-1A Visa. After careful consideration, it was determined that the H-1B Visa was not the best option for this client. He aspired to serve in the CTO position, and needed flexibility regarding his salary level as a founder. However, he was not yet ready to apply for the O-1A Visa and only met two of the required factors: critical role and high salary. Despite not being fully qualified, we believed that this client had a solid foundation to build an O-1 Visa application, and also wanted to consider his long-term goal of obtaining a Green Card.

Our attorney then proceeded to conduct an Evaluation and Strategy stage, which took four weeks. During this time, we evaluated our client’s achievements to date. We also helped him to understand what else was needed to strengthen his evidence, and mapped out the strategy for his future O-1 petition. 

Our Evaluation and Strategy service proved to be an invaluable tool for building his O-1A petition and understanding the requirements for his future immigration goals.

He needed two more months to gather additional documentation, after which he came back to us to prepare his final O-1A application. We had submitted his application within eight weeks time, and were then thrilled to receive notification that the petition was approved with no RFE under premium processing. 

This client now works for his start-up full-time, and is continuing to develop his portfolio so that he can apply for his EB-1A Visa in the future. He understands what the standards are for an EB-1A. The reality is that an EB-1A is all about your story, and it must thoroughly convince the USCIS that you are  a top expert in your field.

Would you be interested in determining your eligibility for the O-1A category? Kindly complete this brief screening, and our team of attorneys will carefully review your accomplishments.