Victor is a citizen of Belarus. He has been working in the U.S. for a couple of years on an L-1B visa before his employment was terminated. Victor is an IT Solutions Architect and has over 10 years of experience in the field of IT. He used the 60-day grace period that is permitted upon termination of employment to look for another job opportunity and to switch his immigration status. He found an employer who was a former client of Victor’s previous company, a startup focused on developing innovative AI technology for e-commerce integrating virtual reality and blockchain technology. We considered Victor’s background for an O-1 visa and found that he was a good fit for it.
GOVERNMENT PRIORITIES FOCUSED ON ATTRACTING FOREIGN TALENT SPECIALIZED IN STEM AND SPECIFICALLY IN AI TECHNOLOGY
The U.S. is currently attracting foreign talent in STEM fields and IT is a STEM field. Also, the administration specifically emphasized interest in attracting foreign talent specialized in the AI field.
Biden Administration makes a specific focus on aligning current immigration policies with the government’s priorities as set forth in the reports aimed at advancing STEM research and its applications and development of innovative AI technologies to stay ahead of competition on a global scale. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence discusses what needs to be done for the USA to stay ahead of the competition: “The United States risks losing the global competition for scarce AI expertise if it does not cultivate more potential talent at home and recruit and retain more existing talent from abroad… Congress should pursue a comprehensive immigration strategy for highly skilled immigrants to encourage more AI talent to study, work, and remain in the United States through new incentives and visa, green card, and job-portability reforms.”
When we filed the O-1 case for Victor, we made a special focus talking about his expertise in AI and in the IT field in general, mentioning government priorities, and how Victor’s skills benefit our country. We pointed out that the U.S. should allow such talented professionals like Victor to be afforded an opportunity to stay and work in the U.S. and use his talents for the benefit of the U.S.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE CASE
Victor is an experienced Software Engineer with over ten years of professional experience in developing and implementing innovative software solutions and leading engineering teams. He has been developing and deploying advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, advanced computing and cloud computing, cyber security technologies, and ensuring quality control in the development of emerging advanced technologies. He has garnered acclaim, both in his country Belarus and beyond, for his major creative contributions to Software Engineering in multiple industries, including healthcare, finance, intellectual property, automotive, telecommunications, retail, education, oil & gas, manufacturing, and real estate.
CRITERIA TO QUALIFY FOR O-1 VISA
In order to qualify for an O-1 visa, the petitioner has to prove that the beneficiary has extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics, which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim. The beneficiary must have received a major internationally recognized award or at least three of the following forms of documentation:
(1) Documentation of the alien's receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor.
(2) Documentation of the alien's membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought, which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields.
(3) Published material in professional or major trade publications or major media about the alien, relating to the alien's work in the field for which classification is sought, which shall include the title, date, and author of such published material, and any necessary translation.
(4) Evidence of the alien's participation on a panel, or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or in an allied field of specialization to that for which classification is sought.
(5) Evidence of the alien's original scientific, scholarly, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field.
(6) Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional journals, or other major media.
(7) Evidence that the alien has been employed in a critical or essential capacity for organizations and establishments that have a distinguished reputation.
(8) Evidence that the alien has either commanded a high salary or will command a high salary or other remuneration for services, evidenced by contracts or other reliable evidence.
If the listed criteria are not readily applicable to the beneficiary’s occupation, the petitioner may submit comparable evidence to establish the beneficiary’s eligibility.
THE CRITERIA WE ARGUED IN OUR CASE
1. Critical/essential capacity
Victor worked for a large software company with over 3000 employees worldwide for over 10 years in progressively responsible leadership positions in the field of software engineering. He occupied key positions in the company, leading technical teams and directing a wide variety of large and complicated projects by combining strong technical, analytical, and managerial skills.
Victor received multiple promotions and had important managerial-level duties. He won multiple employee awards and was responsible for other talent development and training in the company for the software engineering team.
We provided detailed letters from Victor’s employer to prove his critical and essential capacity for the company, his employee awards and recognitions as well as proof of some of the projects he was a part of.
2. Original contributions of major significance in the field
Throughout his career, Victor has developed and implemented many IT projects of major significance that have had an impact on several industries, including healthcare, finance, and e-commerce. These projects have become of national and international importance and affect consumers in broad geographic areas, including the United States, the EU, and the U.K. We provided documentation about these projects along with testimonial letters from the company’s clients attesting how results of Victor’s work on these projects are not widely used by customers worldwide. We also provided letters from independent experts in the field providing more context to Victor’s contributions and why they can be considered of major significance in the field.
In addition to his work projects, Victor had two scientific projects in the field of software engineering that he developed while studying at the university that are also used by others in the field. We provided information about these projects along with a support letter from the university’s professor confirming the usage of Victor’s work. Victor’s important work on these projects has improved the teaching and learning process, which is of great consequence for the next generation of computer science professionals studying at the universities of Belarus.
3. Authorship of scholarly articles in the field
While in pursuit of his Master’s degree, Victor authored a number of articles in scientific journals. In addition, he presented at conferences and his presentations became published abstracts in conference proceedings.
4. High salary
Victor also earned a high salary as compared to other software engineers in Belarus. We provided proof of salary, such as annual tax declarations. In order to compare Victor’s salary to others in the field, we provided Belarus official government statistics for the occupation as well as various salary surveys that showed that Victor’s compensation was within the top 10% earners in the field.
5. Judging the work of others in the field
Judging shows that the person is a recognized expert in the field and is accepted by USCIS as one of the criteria for the O-1 classification. In the software engineering field, there are many ways to demonstrate judging the work of others. There are various hackathons and competitions in IT that are held throughout the year that require the expertise of prominent professionals in the field. However, it is also important to show the stature and the recognized status of the competitions themselves and to show the importance of the work judged. Victor was a judge of several hackathons organized by a globally recognized organization that brings together developers from all over the world. We provided proof of judging in the form of letters from the organization as well as documentation about these hackathons and the recognized status of the organization holding them.
THE TOTALITY OF EVIDENCE – FINAL MERITS ARGUMENT
It is important to point out that merely satisfying the criteria is not enough to be granted O-1 classification. In addition to meeting at least 3 enumerated criteria, USCIS looks at the case in its entirety to see the quality of the evidence presented and determines whether the documentation in its totality supports the finding that the beneficiary has extraordinary ability with sustained national or international acclaim. USCIS wants to see that the totality of evidence shows that the beneficiary is one of that small percentage who has risen to the very top of his field and has sustained national or international acclaim.
We were able to prove it with our case and Victor received his O-1 change of status approval. He did not have to leave the U.S. and was able to change employers and continue using his talents and skills for the benefit of the U.S. employer.
This is one of the examples of a successful case for an accomplished professional in the field of IT. Our firm has handled many successful O-1 Petitions in a variety of fields, including software engineering, web development and IT in general, business and startup entrepreneurship, science and research, as well as other fields of endeavor. If you would like to see if you may qualify for an O-1 visa, feel free to contact us and schedule your consultation.