The O-1 nonimmigrant visa is for individuals who show they are extraordinary in a particular field. For more information about O-1 petitions, please click here.
The O-1 visa allows individuals to live and work in the United States for a temporary period of three years, and is renewable indefinitely. Similar to the H-1B and L-1 visas, it is recognized as a “dual-intent” visa, which means that it allows you to concurrently seek to become a green card holder.
For details on what some of the key differences are between the H-1B and O-1, please click here.
With some non-immigrant visas (Eg. TN, F-1) renewal and/or entry to the U.S. may be difficult when a green card petition is pending. A dual intent visa means that you may come to the United States for a temporary period with the visa and leave and reenter the U.S. while having a pending petition for a green card at the same time. In addition, the O-1 visa does not require you to maintain a residence abroad which you do not intend to abandon (such as for the J-1, F-1 and other nonimmigrant visas).
