Artist Green Card FAQ

These are the most Frequently Asked Questions for the EB1 and O1 American Artist Visas. We have detailed answers in our guides. We hope this information assists you on your visa journey.

I am a filmmaker and met an actor I wish to hire on an O-1 visa, can I?
Yes. You should check their visa in their passport and it should say O-1. Also check the expiry date. You can ask to check their approval form I-797 to ensure their sponsor will allow film work. Most are sponsored by an agent/manager/loan out company so there should be no issues.

Can I audition for pilot season without a visa?
We have discussed further here on how you can prepare your case. Our guide obviously delves deeper but this post should be a start.

I’m a musician can I play free gigs in USA?
Every year musicians and bands are deported. Read this unfortunate story from SXSW and this article. As far as we are concerned if you intend to keep a professional career you must be above board in all dealings and that includes visas. It doesn’t need to cost thousands.

I have only a days work on a film shooting in the US do I still need a visa?
Yes. If you are physically working on US soil, even if a foreign company is paying you, you must have a visa to be authorized to work in the USA. It’s work on an unpaid short. Then you should perhaps investigate the B visa.

If I am playing a music festival do I still need a visa?
Yes. If you are performing physically on US soil, even if it is a showcase, you should have a visa to be authorized to play. If you are coming into the USA with your instrument/press material and as many of these are high profile events they will find out and you will be deported. Check out Damien McFlys experience. This can have an adverse effect on your future applications. Check 21 Savage arrest.

EB1 Green Card Questions

What is the EB-1 Artist Green Card?
A Green Card holder (permanent resident) is someone who has been granted authorization to live and work in the US on a permanent basis. As proof of that status, a person is granted a permanent resident card, commonly called a “Green Card.” You can become a permanent resident several different ways. Most individuals are sponsored by a family member or employer in the United States. Other individuals may become permanent residents because of their extraordinary ability, in this case, you may be eligible to file for yourself. More here

How many visas are given out a year?
Let’s take 2019 as an example of pre-COVID figures – there were 163,342 O-1 Visas approved and the EB1 visas had 42,862 approved. For the stats of your country click here.

Do I need a sponsor for the EB-1 Artist Green Card?
No. Unlike the O-1 visa you do not need a work sponsor or specific job offer and you won’t be restricted to the one employer. However, you must show proof of ‘intent to continue to work’ in your particular field. Applying without a sponsor is known as self-petitioning.

O-1 Visa Questions

Do I need a sponsor for the O-1 Artist Visa?
Yes. You need a sponsor, also known as a petitioner, for whom you are only permitted to work, which is why a manager or agent as a sponsor is preferable to avoid being restricted to the one employer. A manager or agent sponsored visa is known as a blanket visa. You must show proof of upcoming US work for prestigious productions. Here is the USCIS information. Ensure they are legitimate. Check out this actors nightmare. Many have been mis-informed that all you need is a citizen or a green card holder to sponsor you – this is not true. Your sponsor is paramount to being allowed work legitimately in the USA. Great care must be taken in choosing your sponsor. It is possible for your own company to sponsor your application, however, there must be a bona fide “employer-employee” relationship (eg you serve another in the company that has power to control your hiring, firing and salary).

I heard that any citizen can be my sponsor?
Many message us asking if their aunt or cousin can sponsor them. No, unless your aunt or cousin has a company in the industry you are applying for they cannot sponsor you.

Will you be my sponsor?
We are not a licensed agency or manager, nor a company that has employees and so we cannot sponsor you. Finding a sponsor for your O-1 is an important part of your journey. If you are an actor consider starting here. For all other art forms contact the related unions in the US and ask them for lists. Consider checking through databases such as IMDb too.

How long is the O-1 Temporary Artist Visa for?
The O-1 can be valid for up to 3 years. Project specific O-1 visas are only valid for dates on your work contracts. If your sponsor is an agent or manager and you have built an ‘Itinerary’ of several work contracts with minimal ‘gaps’ you may be granted a stay up to the end of your last submitted work contract. You can extend your visa by year increments.

Can I leave and re-enter the US on an O-1 Visa whenever I want?
Yes. You can come and go as you please. It is best to show evidence that you have a contract to come back to in the US on re-entry.

How many times can the O-1 Visa renewed?
The O-1 visa can be renewed indefinitely with the same sponsor 1 year at a time by submitting an O-1 Extension application. To get a further 3 years on an O-1 you should apply with a new sponsor or during your visa term submit a Change of Sponsor application. We show you how to do that in our guides.

How long does the O1 take?
All the material in our is available to you within seconds of purchase. The documents will be there for you for as long as you need them 24/7/365 from anywhere you have internet access. To go through all the material in our guide will take approximately 5 days. The time for gathering evidence to filing your application is up to you, generally we observe it takes about 40 days. Allow least 2 to 4 months to hear if your O1 Temporary Artist Visa application is successful – or 15 days if you file using Premium Processing. From approval it can take a week to organize your consulate/embassy meeting and another week for your passport to arrive with your visa inserted.. These times are approximations.

How much does it cost to apply for the O-1 – Temporary Artist Visa?
The only necessary costs in applying are the USCIS fees. If you wish you can add Premium Processing. You might also decide to use an attorney.
Here are the costs broken down:

USCIS Form I-129: $1,055 (If your sponsor is classified as a non-profit or small employer $530)
Union Consultation Letter(s) approx: $250 – $500
Asylum Program Fee: $0 – $600
US Embassy Consular Processing: $190 +
Print & Postage: $150
Total = $1,120 – $2,745 approx

Premium Processing: $2,805* (not necessary)
Attorney Fee: $6,000 approx

Are there issues with the O-1 visa?
Yes. The issues with the O-1 visas predominantly affects actors. Business people, start-ups, musicians, composers, filmmakers or any other artists are unaffected as far as we are aware. Please message us with your bad experience if you have had problems.

Most visa problems we have come across could easily have been avoided if the artist had been made aware of them. One of the main reasons why we built our guides was because we were so in the dark on so many issues that attorneys didn’t have the time to explain.

The O-1 is an excellent temporary visa to allow you live and work in the United States and is ideal for the creative artist who wants to trial working in the USA before committing to the EB-1 permanent green card. If your intention is to create your own work in the US then the O-1 is ideal. If you wish to use the O-1 as a stepping stone to the EB-1, it is a solid step in the right direction and establishes you in the US ahead of your EB-1 application. The O-1 can be used to have the time necessary in the US to meet with potential employers and get your work known – and if an employer that doesn’t accept blanket visas wishes to hire you, they can choose to submit an application for another O-1 for you with them listed as sponsor – the possibilities are endless!

There are restrictions on some O-1 actors which are imposed not by the USCIS but within the arts industries. The Department of Justice states that no persons cleared for work by the USCIS should be discriminated against due to their non-immigrant status, yet difficulties remain. O-1 Actors (with rare exception) are barred from hire by NBCUniversal, Sony, ABC Disney, and Warner Bros, thus excluding them from a large number of castings – CBS and Fox Studios do accept the O-1B once the actor presents their petition in advance and it clearly lists them as a “Screen Actor”. An important element for all applicants to note – you will be limited to working within the category of artist you list on your petition – “Stage Actors” cannot work as “Screen Actors” – so be sure that you list all job titles under which you intend to work on your application. This also stems from USCIS and the studios having issue with the chosen sponsor.

Another issue facing O-1 Actors is that they may not join Actors’ Equity Association, meaning they cannot perform in union-contracted theater productions unless ‘grandfathered’ in.
The approval time can be long (3-4 months) – if you have a strong O-1 case consider using the USCIS Premium Processing service.
There are cases of O-1 applicants being turned down at their US consulate and embassy interview. We believe this is because the artists are not fully aware of their application and not in a position to argue their case.
This application is not rocket science – if you have a good grasp of your case and choose your sponsor carefully, you should be successful.
NB It is not necessary for you to have an O-1 visa before applying for the EB1 Green Card!

More About the Guides

I’ve to log in to a website for the information? Why can’t I get this as a download?
As an informational resource with ever changing criteria and regulations, we believe the membership model we have built to be the most beneficial to you as it allows us keep the content current and ensure we are giving the best up-to-date advice at all times. With over 130 online pages (around 500 printed pages), the online format, includes a handy search function and makes for a more user friendly interface. You can print the pages or copy and paste documents for offline personal use. The site is set to auto-renew and in the unlikely event that our business winds up, we will forward a PDF version of the guide to all members for download.

Is your material current?
Yes. We often receive panicked emails from artists having received RFEs because of attorneys submitting with outdated interpretations of the criteria. The artists that have used our site have had no issues and most have been straight approved.
We update our guides as soon as new material is released eg. increased USCIS fees, new administration updates, Medical, Adjustment of Status etc. As the basis for our guide we use recent successful applications and USCIS announcements and documentation including the USCIS Policy Memorandum regarding the “Evaluation of Evidence Submitted with Certain Form I-140 Petitions” published in response to the case Kazarian v. USCIS, 596 F.3d 1115.

Can I find this information online?
Some. We trawled through appeal cases and RFE cases on the USCIS website, which is an excellent resource, to build our successful petitions. We also used forums. There are other purchasable guides. What we could not find online and we give to you are: sample petition letters specifically compiled for the artist – we offer TWO EB-1 Artist letters in our guide and TWO Film and Music O-1 Artist letters for Original Application, ONE Artist O-1 Extension and ONE O-1 Artist Change of Sponsor. We used information gleaned from successful cases that we worked on and researched and tested our guide to find the answers to your questions, saving you time and making your application process easier.

Do you tell me everything?
Yes. We tell you EVERYTHING! We have left no stone unturned in this guide – from gathering evidence to writing your petition letter to explaining the forms to Adjustment of Status and Consular Processing. EVERYTHING! All available to you 24/7/365 in a user friendly searchable format.

Why this price point?
We understand that spare funds can be hard to come by (See this Observer Article). A union O-1 consultation letter costs anywhere from $250 up to $500, attorney consultations can cost $300 over the phone – we breakdown and simplify the entire process for you in our comprehensive guides. We have spent thousands of hours studying both successful and unsuccessful applications plus we keep the guides updated with current information making our guides definitely worth the price!

Do you accept cryptocurrencies?
Yes. Please email [artist]@greencard.guide for instructions.

Is my privacy protected?
Yes. To access our guide you must sign up with a valid email this will never be shared with a third party. We also protect the identity of our successful clients. We ask that on successfully receiving your visa that you message us with a request to remove your name from our records at success[@]greencard.guide We aim to treat you how we would like to be treated.

Will my payment to you be safe and secure?
We use PayPal because it is the most secure and trusted online platform.

How do I know your guides really work?
Read our testimonials. We have built this guide from working exclusively on artists’ applications at every level and permutation – from applications starting from scratch, to coming on after a Request for Further Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny. Our guides cover all possible eventualities and walks you through the process. There are other online guides available, some cheaper and others more expensive, however we believe them to be limited in their coverage and lacking important elements specific to artists (guides we found are mostly for scientist applicants). Some guides only show you a skeleton cover letter and don’t explain the complete process our guides do so your letter is original and not “cookie cutter”.

There are no names or photos of the people who gave testimonials how do we know they are real?
Understandably most artists and entertainers find the subject of how they got their US work papers to be sensitive and private, something we wholly respect, and as many of our clients are in the public eye, we would never give out their names. We are always shocked when we see attorneys announce artists names on their websites! If you need more convincing that what we offer is genuine we can ask a couple of them to connect with you and tell you of their experiences. We take privacy seriously and use an SSL to protect you while you use our site. Read them here.

Is your guide worth the money?
Yes. Definitely. Successfully helping artists across all platforms since 2015, our guides costs less than 5% of the average cost of an immigration attorney in New York or Los Angeles. We believe that is a very fair price for the quality and quantity of information we provide to give you control and confidence in your petition. A consultation with an immigration attorney can cost $300. This may be parceled into their fee if you hire them. The cheapest attorney quote that we have come across for an artist green card application was $6000, most expensive $15,000!! These costs don’t normally include USCIS fees, sometimes these fees don’t cover the attorney costs if you receive an RFE! So you are looking at a total of $8,000 to $17,000, this can increase if you have a spouse and dependents. If you self file, this guide is saving you thousands! It step by step guides you until the green card is in your hand. Secondly, having bought our guide and deciding to file through an attorney, if you follow the steps and build your own case, you have the power to negotiate costs with them. Thirdly, we provide information that an attorney does not have the time to relate to you. Our guides give you control and confidence allowing you to take responsibility for your life.

Why are there no other guides available to buy?
When we went through this process we were surprised that there were only science guides available. Having figured out the format and reverse engineered the USCIS application and had the idea to share the information with you, we went hunting for domain names. Many applicable domain names we found had been bought by attorneys. We suppose they had plans to build the guides but abandoned them when they figured out how much work/time it would take. As artists we have a lot of downtime, over 200+ pages later, this is certainly one of the most involving and rewarding of our undertakings.

Why did you build these guides?
We built these guides because we had successfully filed our own cases and helped out friends with theirs. We’d spend 8 hours at a time talking our colleagues through the process which took us away from our creative lives. We sought out solutions to find the best format for us to help them, spread the knowledge and inspire others. The USCIS gives you the option of applying without an attorney and we wanted to empower extraordinary ability people to do just that. The common problems applicants we came across was that artists had issues with attorneys not having time to answer questions, not filing paperwork on time (sometimes making them out of status), wrong fees submitted on their behalf, petition letters with conflicting information, scamming by not fully translating documents, dodgy petitioner/sponsors and limiting job titles to name a few.
Most visa problems we have come across could easily have been avoided if the applicant had been made aware of them. These reasons are why we built our guides.

How did you create these guide?
We built these guide from our own successful self-filed petitions and the successful applications of other artists we guided through the process since 2015. We condensed our one-on-ones into a 5 step process including over 130+ pages of advice including evidence building, sample petition letters, form filling analysis and more. We have set it all out online to be searchable and accessed by your email address and password. This system allows us to keep you up-to-date with any new USCIS directives etc.

What is the refund policy?
We want you to feel confident in your purchase. If you’re unsatisfied, we offer a 7-day refund guarantee if less than 25% of the guide has been accessed. Partial refunds are available if usage is between 25% and 50%. Unfortunately, refunds cannot be issued after 50% of the content has been accessed.

How do I request a refund?
Simply email us at support[@]greencard.guide, and we’ll process your refund within 36 hours. Refunds will be returned to your original payment method by PayPal, this is usually immediate but can take within 5–10 business days depending on how you fund your account.

How is usage monitored?
We can see how much of the guide has been accessed through our system.

What if I have a question that’s not here?
Email us hello[@]greencard.guide

OK, I’ve read everything here and I still don’t know of I should use your guide. What do I do?
Eh… what can we say. Yes, this is for real – tried and tested. Give us a call on US (646) 543-3983