Getting the O-1 Visa or an EB-1 green card in the US is not an easy process, to make matters worse there is so much bureaucracy involved that even the most credible talents fail to secure these visas and are stuck with the H1-B visa. A Visa category which due to President Trump’s latest executive order has been frozen until the end of this year.
Today we will be discussing several reasons why most large immigration law firms turn down even the most talented candidates who are eligible for the O-1 visa or the EB-1 Green card and ask them to go ahead with the H1-B instead.
01. O-1 and EB-1 petitions require time and attention
Big law firms are usually all about making money, so they are usually unwilling to take cases that are time-consuming and require a lot of attention. Since both the O-1 petition and the EB-1 petitions require attention to detail, carefully crafted petitions with hundreds of pages of evidence to prove the case, it is not something that most big law firms are unwilling to commit to as they have large teams and are looking to make as much money as they can without having to do much work.
As it requires collecting evidence documenting our client’s achievements. Although this might seem like an easy task it really isn’t as the applicant’s achievements may seem fairly obvious to us, for the petition examiner the proof may not be substantial. Thus, it requires a lot of back and forth between the immigration attorney and the client, it also requires a lot of cooperation between the two parties. Hence this takes up a lot of time and commitment and so it really is not everyone’s cup of tea. And, many large law firms would rather focus on 20 clients in one go than to invest their time, attention, and energy to just one or two clients at a time.
Just recently, one of our clients who was recently approved for the EB-1 green card, after his approval wrote to us with a screenshot of an email he had received from a renowned law firm who had told him that he was not a viable candidate for an EB-1 green card, “ This email is what separates you guys from them, these big law firms with the semi-automated process. I would have been stuck with H-1B and worried my life out, because of the new regulations,” writes the man whose inventions have been bought by Amazon for over $1Bn.
He was just one of the many PassRight clients who have been through this kind of rejection. With the help of our dedicated legal team and US immigration experts, we have been able to help 98% of our clientele. This is one of those reasons why it is always better to work with reputed boutique firms that are not too big in size as they are willing to work with their clients at a more personal level and are focused more on quality than quantity.
02. Lack of Proper Evaluation
Since many large law firms use automated or semi-automated systems to evaluate applicants their evaluation is more biased and leans towards their own company policy. So, instead of giving the applicants the truth about their evaluation results they are just told off and are asked to apply for the H-1Bvisa instead. At PassRight we understand how important proper evaluation is, this is why after aspiring visa candidates reach out to us, they not only go answer the detailed questionnaire, but that questionnaire is read and evaluated by one of our visa experts, who then reach out to the applicants to tell them whether they qualify or not and if they do not the options they have at hand. As we believe that the whole immigration process is a journey and we are all in it together. Your success is ours too.
03. H1-B Visas burn a bigger hole in the long run
H1-B visas, first of all, are lottery-based visas, so they are capped and there are comparatively much higher H1-B visa rejections than O-1 visa rejections. Although applying for the H-1B visa may seem like a cheaper option, in the long run, these turn out to be more expensive as one is expected to shell out money every time you apply, change jobs, or appeal a rejection and immigration attorneys don’t come cheap.
Corporate America is filled with exceptionally talented people who have been told over and over again that they do not qualify for the O-1 or EB-1 green card, just so that these corporate law firms can keep a stream of constant income rolling in for themselves. This is just a part of their big game as they spark fear in their clients and make them believe that they do not qualify for a better immigration option.
Preparing a petition like the EB-1Greencard or the O-1 Visa may be time-consuming, and a little daunting, however, it is actually worth a try the hard work it requires as they are hardly ever affected by the constant changes in immigration regulations and visa bans. They are in fact the safest and hassle-free options for immigrant workers in the United States today.
If you have been thinking about what to do next due to the current ban on work visas, contact us for a free evaluation and the available visa options you are eligible to apply for.
