So you’re a German production company looking to shoot a feature film in the United States, or an Australian actor who has been hired for a recurring role in an American television series. You’ve done a little research, possibly read our previous post on special considerations for film and television visas or common O-1 misconceptions, and now you realize that you and/or your production team are in need of O visas. (Almost any foreign national working on commercial or entertainment film or television projects in the US, for any length of time, will need an O-1 or O-2 visa.)
Read moreUnderstanding the O-1 Criteria: A Mermaid of Extraordinary Ability
One of the main visa types we deal with at our firm is the O-1 nonimmigrant visa for individuals of extraordinary ability. We previously dealt with some common misconceptions about this visa type and now, to explore it in a little more depth, we offer a fictional meeting between a potential client and her lawyer, discussing her potential petition for O-1 classification.
This isn’t, however, just any potential client. The Little Mermaid is a classic fairy tale about a mermaid princess with a beautiful voice, who falls in love with a human prince at first sight and sells her voice to a sea witch in order to follow him onto land and make him fall in love with her. In an attempt to make the story a little less tragic, and help illustrate the requirements for an O-1 visa, we’re imagining up a scenario in which the Little Mermaid meets with a lawyer to more sensibly discuss her temporary immigration options, rather than immediately going to such drastic measures.
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