What’s Inside?

The O-1 visa is the best and most flexible visa for immigrant entrepreneurs. It has almost no formal requirements besides fulfilling any 3 out of 8 extraordinary ability criteria. It takes around 60 to 90 days to prepare and submit your application (possible to do it in 2 weeks), and with premium processing, the government will process your application in just 15 days. The best part is, you can use your own business to sponsor your own O-1 visa. And in this guide, we’ll show you exactly how it works.

Table of contents

  1. What is the O-1 visa?
  2. Eligibility requirements
  3. Main features of the O-1 visa
  4. The 8 different criteria for “extraordinary ability”
  5. How to sponsor your own visa with your own business
  6. Applying for the O-1 visa
  7. Costs and how long it takes
  8. Final thoughts and helpful resources