A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning From O1 to Green Card

Being an immigrant in the U.S. means you must get your facts straight on how the law works—especially when it comes to visa specifications. To that end, today we will talk about the O1 visa and focus on the steps you should take to transition from an O1 visa a Green card. The law might be difficult to grasp at first, but after reading this guide, the information should be easier to comprehend!

What Is an O1 Visa?

Let’s start with the basics: what are the main characteristics of an O1 Visa? This is a non-immigrant visa, specifically designated for people who excel in domains such as education, science, business, or art. In addition to that, they must have international recognition for their work. Still, we should get into more detail to know what we’re talking about.

In essence, in order to benefit from this visa, you have to demonstrate your outstanding capabilities, or knowledge in a given field, by having national or international recognition. For instance, noteworthy accomplishments in the motion picture and television industry are taken into account as well.

In fact, the O1 visa is divided into two primary categories—namely the O-1A visa and the O-1B visa. The latter is for extraordinary results achieved in film, arts, and television and the former is for striking results in business, science, athletics, and education.

To a given extent, the O1 visa has some elements in common with the H-1B visa. That’s because one of the eligibility criteria is having a petition from an employer. In addition to that, the beneficiary must prove his/her capabilities in the chosen domain of expertise. Simply put, one must demonstrate that he/she belongs to a small percentage of individuals that have risen to the top of their profession. This is translated into distinction.

What Are the Benefits of Transitioning From an O1 Visa to a Green Card?

After finding out what the O1 Visa is, you might be wondering why you would consider transitioning from an O1 to a Green Card? This is a good question and we’ll provide a possible answer for this. Typically, a Green Card is a Permanent Resident Card. On the other hand, when it comes to the O1 Visa, it is a non-immigrant temporary visa. Therefore, through this visa, you can stay in the U.S. for up to three years.

After that period expires, you can choose from two options: you may either return to your home country or request an extension to the visa.

At the same time, another potential drawback of the O1 non-immigrant visa is that it requires an employer to offer a petition for the visa-holder to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. There is no guarantee whatsoever that the officials will approve the petition. This is not the case when you have a Green Card, though, which is another primary benefit to switching from an O1 to a Green Card.

That is not all, though. As a holder of an O1 visa, even if you stay in the U.S. for many years, you still won’t have the possibility of getting a U.S. citizenship. On the other hand, things are different when it comes to the holder of a Green Card.

A Green Card is permanent. Hence, you can remain in the country for as long as you want, so to speak. At the same time, you may purchase property and get a loan. You may still get financing as a holder of an O1 Visa, but the process might be a bit lengthier and more time-consuming.

With that in mind, here is an overview of some of the main benefits of switching from an O1 to a Green Card.

• You can enter and leave the U.S. as you please, without risking getting denied entry into the country.
• You don’t have to worry about the expiration of an authorized stay. When you are the owner of a Green Card, this status is valid for life.
• You can consider applying for financial aid for education sponsored by the government.
• You can work in any company situated in U.S. territory, without having to worry about employer sponsorship.
• You may start your own corporation or business.
• You can sponsor your spouse and children (under 21-years-old) to obtain permanent status.
• Potential changes in immigration laws won’t affect your residency status.
• You are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship if this is what you want.
• You can permanently stay in the U.S. for as many years as you want.
• If you intend to purchase a home, getting a mortgage is easier as a Green Card holder.

How to Transition From an O1 Visa to a Green Card

Now, if you are convinced that you want to transition from an O1 visa to a Green Card, we will outline the main steps you should follow.

Confirm Your Eligibility

In the case of an O1 visa, you have to confirm your eligibility, and the same is true when applying for a Green Card—which requires filling out the EB-1A application. As we previously indicated, this doesn’t entail Labor Certification or anything of the sort. Concurrently, in the position of an applicant, you can apply for the EB-1A yourself, without needing specific sponsorship from a U.S. employer.

An eligibility requirement you should be mindful of is the following: you must remain in the same field of expertise throughout the entire application process. This is primarily why transitioning from an O1 visa to Green Card is an attractive alternative for foreigners, as it facilitates the option of self-petition without the sponsorship of a U.S. employer. In addition to that, obtaining a Green Card is supposedly a speedier process than applying from other categories under EB2 or EB3.

On a different note, for EB1 Aliens with Extraordinary Capability, it’s not mandatory for a U.S. employer to provide a job offer. Simultaneously, you have to address only two out of the six eligibility criteria that are applicable in the case of the O1 visa.

Self-Petition

The next thing to note is the Green Card self-petition, which enables you to file your own petition for getting a Green Card. With that in mind, you don’t have to request the sponsorship of an employer, as is the case with the O1 visa.

However, if you decide to apply for a Green Card through the self-petition, you will most likely need to facilitate official documentation that proves your professional accomplishments in your field of expertise.

However, if you are a holder of the O1 visa, and you are making the transition from an O1 to a Green Card, it means you already have a job in the U.S. Hence, applying for a visa won’t change your job, but it will change your status from O1 to EB-1.

That being said, if you want to pursue the self-petition, you have to file Form I-140 to the USCIS. Afterward, what you have to do is wait for your application to be processed. The steps following this are quite similar to the steps you have to take for getting the EB-1 visa via an employer petition.

National Interest Waiver

In line with the USCIS, the EB1- Extraordinary Ability (EB-1A or EB1 – EA) might be comparable to the O1 non-immigrant classification. For instance, you might be eligible to apply for the EB1-EA, granted that you have obtained striking performances in the field of education, athletics, arts, or sciences.

With that in mind, in regards to statutory specifications, the EB-1A category means the applicant has to indicate that, by remaining in the U.S., this will most likely bring benefit to the country.

For example, the two requirements that are applicable to the field of arts include:

• supplying evidence that the applicant has obtained outstanding success in performing arts, by providing box office receipts or record, video sales, so on and so forth;
• facilitating evidence displaying the applicant’s work in the field of art through participation in exhibitions, for instance.

Essentially, as an immigrant holder of the O1 visa, the odds are that you can successfully apply for the EB-1A. Still, what you are required to show is the way in which the U.S. will benefit from your coming to the country. You cannot simply come up with the one argument that you’ve been approved for the O1 visa. Each petition must be sustained in its own merit. This is primarily why you need to prove that you have attained the very top of your field of expertise.

Simply put, the USCIS must determine that your work up, until now, is of considerable intrinsic merit through your accomplishments and that the country will benefit from it. Expressly, you have to persuade the USCIS that waving the Labor Certification is in the country’s best interest.

If the USCIS approves this, you will be provided an EB-2 visa, which is designated for professionals that own advanced degrees. At the same time, this type of visa is given to immigrants with extraordinary merits in business, arts, and sciences. You have to follow the specifics of the EB-2 visa application process in this respect.

How to Get an O1 Visa to Green Card Loan?

If you want to find out more information about getting an O1 visa to Green Card loan, then we will briefly explain how Stilt approaches this process. With that in mind, what are the main conditions you should meet in order to get the financing you need?

Flexible Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria for getting an O1 visa to Green Card loan are flexible if you decide to choose Stilt. You have to provide information regarding your employment situation, as this is very important during the loan application process. At the same time, being highly educated increases your prospects for employment and is also taken into account.

Another element that Stilt takes into consideration is responsible financial behavior. Sensible financial habits are considered a major plus. Essentially, you should facilitate information regarding your visa status, and you should be 100 percent sure that the info you provide is accurate.

Something you should keep in mind is that you have to facilitate potential factors of credit risk—namely past bankruptcies, defaults, or collections. Stilt will determine the severity of the situation in each case.

The Requirements You Must Address as an Applicant

As a non-US citizen, odds are that you’ve stumbled across dreary bureaucracy, particularly when it comes to official documentation. Stilt intends to make things easier by considerably simplifying the process of getting a loan. Therefore, you are required to be physically present in the U.S. when you apply for financing, have a valid U.S. bank account, a valid visa, a valid U.S. phone number, and a valid U.S address.

In essence, most visa holders who switch from an O1 visa to a Green Card meet these requirements. This means that applying for financing through Stilt is as easy as it gets. You can look for more information on the website for more useful guidelines.

Conclusion

To sum up, we hope that the information provided here on switching from an O1 visa to Green Card has been helpful. Considering the benefits that come with this decision, you can understand why many people would think of applying for a Green Card.

A notable benefit is, of course, the fact that you can attempt to purchase property and get the financing you need. You will most likely benefit from more convenient loan terms as well.

On a final note, do consider Stilt if you’re in need of financing, as we’re more than happy to try to accommodate you!

Edmunod Daco

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