Would love to know if anyone has gone through or is in a similar position that I am in, as well as any opinions / thoughts / advice / insight. And if everything below checks out.
I (UK citizen) got approved from USCIS for an O1 March 2022. Pretty much the week London went into lockdown and the embassy’s shut meaning just like many on this subreddit couldn’t get an appointment.
That O1 application was tied to a single employer, who I was working with at the time and continued to work with all through last year (remotely), until January 2021 when I quit the company. Me quitting the company from my understanding was pretty much abandoning that O1 process.
Since quitting that job I have been remotely freelancing for many US companies and clients. I would like to continue being freelance and not have to work for a single company / be an employee ever again.
I would like to apply for an O1 again, this time going the route where you show multiple companies that you will work for during the 3 year period. Almost like a freelancer. From my understand I am able to re-use a lot of the documents from the successful application I had last year, i.e recommendation letters, portfolio, awards, press list etc.
I have a list of 6 individuals/companies/agencies that I feel confident would write the letters that would map out my itinerary of work during the 3 year visa period. I spoke with my lawyer last week and she said the application would cost the same amount it did last time. Which is a lot of money and I don’t feel is necessary considering most of the application work is done and ready to go again.
Timeline, ideally I have this submitted with premium processing before the year. Hoping the embassies will be processing O1 appointments following the news today of the travel ban being lifted from early November. I can only imagine the backlog of appointments though and am worried it could take up to a year to get the visa stamp.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/ps49b2/o1_visa_thoughts/