O-1 Extraordinary Ability

The O-1 nonimmigrant category is for the employment of individual aliens who have achieved and sustained national or international acclaim for extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, athletics, motion picture, or television industries.

  • Employers are permitted to petition with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for a nonimmigrant to come to the US on a temporary basis to work within his or her area of extraordinary ability or achievement.

  • It also permits family members and, in certain cases, assistants to join the non-immigrant.

  • The hiring departments and the foreign nationals are not authorized to file their own O-1 petitions.