For extraordinary individuals who want a taste of the proverbial American dream, the O-1A visa is often the route of choice. This visa allows professionals of extraordinary ability — including thought leaders, industry experts, and promising athletes — to come to the United States every year and build a life. And while the visa is only granted for three years, it can be endlessly extended, making it an attractive option for extraordinary workers around the world.

However, the process of securing the visa can be complex, and qualifying for it can be particularly challenging. Thankfully, there are a few actions you can take to improve your eligibility and better your odds of securing a visa. Here’s what you need to know.

O-1A Requirements: A Refresher

As you likely know, the O-1A visa is meant for people who have shown extraordinary ability in their field, whether in science, education, the arts, business, or even athletics (although athletics will be outside the scope of this article). They must also have accomplished recognized and documented achievements in their field of choice. Finally, they must be coming to the USA to continue their work in that same field.

This is in contrast to the EB-1 visa, which is similar in that it’s for individuals of extraordinary ability, but it serves as a path to permanent residency. However, it can take over a year to earn approval, while the O-1A visa can be approved in a matter of days.

To demonstrate your extraordinary ability, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires evidence that you’ve received a major internationally recognized award like the Nobel Prize.

But given that only a handful of Nobel Prizes are doled out each year, thankfully, the USCIS alternatively requires at least three out of the following eight supporting forms of evidence:

• Other nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards

• Membership in associations that require outstanding achievements

• Material about the applicant that appears in professional publications

• Evidence of the applicant’s participation as a judge of the work of others

• Original scientific, scholarly, or business-related contributions

• Authorship of scholarly articles

• Employment in a critical or essential capacity for distinguished organizations

• The commanding a high salary or other remuneration

If it sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. “Extraordinary” is not a term the USCIS throws around lightly. So what can you do?

Improving O-1A Eligibility

If you’re reading this article, chances are that it’s too late to make such significant strides in your work to receive international awards or exorbitant salaries, you may not qualify for the kinds of memberships the USCIS is looking for, and your current employment may not be something worth putting on a visa application.

These are elements you cannot control. Thankfully, however, there are a few elements that you can control. Despite what you may have heard, there are things you can do to better your odds of securing a visa.

Sit on a Panel and Judge

Judging a competition is a well-known and respected method of establishing credibility and expertise. After all, just because you sing in the car on your way to work doesn’t mean you’re going to be invited to judge America’s Got Talent. They bring on expert singers to judge contestants — singers who have established their skills and are seen as leaders in the industry.

Likewise, professional competitions are judged by industry leaders, and therefore, they are a great way to prove to USCIS that you are an expert in your field. These competitions may be high-profile award shows, grants, presentations, showcases, and even Ph.D dissertation committees. There’s some leeway here in exactly what kind of competition you judge, but as it’s related to your area of expertise and it’s not an open competition where laypeople are invited to judge, you might use it as a way to buff up your application.

Leverage Your Professional Network for Contributions or Authorship

It’s not about what you know; it’s about who you know. The old adage rings truer every day, and it’s no less true for O-1A visa applicants.

In the context of O-1A, this means reaching out to your professional network and collaborating with them. If you can join up with someone in your field to make significant contributions in your field or author a scholarly article (both of which are criteria for the O-1A visa), this can be a fantastic way to improve your application.

Your professional network might also help if you’re having a hard time finding relevant competitions to judge. If you make your needs clear and offer your expertise to help judge an upcoming competition, chances are someone in your network would appreciate your assistance.

Get Featured in Published Articles

Far and away, one of the best ways to show that you’re a leader in your field is to be featured in published articles. Without having to lift a finger, you can have your name appear in a popular publication that establishes you as a subject matter expert, highlights your achievements, and demonstrates the impact you’ve made on your industry — all of which further improve other aspects of your application, making this option incredibly powerful.

While it’s not feasible to go around asking publications to feature you, what you can do is hire the services of content marketing agencies that work with visa applicants for this specific purpose. If you give them a brief run-down of your history and work, they can assemble a package of articles to be published on various websites and build a portfolio of the kind of evidentiary documentation that USCIS loves to see.

Not every content marketing agency works in this specialized field of visa profile building, however, so you need to make sure you choose the right one. Presscart, for example, works with visa applicants every day to improve their eligibility and help industry experts around the world secure their O-1A visas.

Improving Your O-1A Visa Eligibility with Presscart

Presscart is a full-service content marketing agency that’s helped hundreds of visa hopefuls improve their applications with robust, professional articles that establish clear subject matter expertise. With clients featured in MSN, USA Today, and other high-profile publications, Presscart is your platform of choice for visa publicity and the partner that can help you secure that coveted O-1A approval. Contact our team today to get started on your package.