Artist Visa Advice | The Artist Visa | Alejandro Filippa

Artist Visa Advice
« return to blog home

Monday, January 30th, 2012
Artist Visa for Fashion Models

Credit to our devoted Associate Kiran on this one, she knows her model visas.

Spring is in the air! New York Fashion Week is upon us, and we’re excited to see the extraordinary talent and creativity of the designers, not to mention all that glitz and glamour on the runway. Many of the catwalk extraordinaires at NYFW are fashion models of international acclaim who are here in the U.S. on an employment-based visa, allowing them to strut the runway and pose for photo shoots. We have outlined the most common visas fashion models apply for through a U.S. modeling agency or agent in the U.S., including the O-1 “Artist Visa”.

O-1 Non-Immigrant Visa:

An O-1 non-immigrant visa, also known as the “artist visa” allows a model to live and work in the U.S. if the model is sponsored by a modeling agent or agency in the U.S. A model must show his or her extraordinary ability as a model through evidence such as abundant tear sheets and reference letters from leaders in the industry. Furthermore, the model must be sponsored by a modeling agency or agent in the U.S. and have an itinerary of fashion modeling projects. The O-1 visa can be granted for a 3-year period of temporary employment with the petitioning employer, depending on the length of projects on the itinerary.

H-1B Visa – Non-Immigrant Visa Petition for a Temporary Employee:

An H-1B non-immigrant visa is generally for members of “specialty occupations”, applying to more traditional occupations such as physicians, accountant, architects, etc. However, an H-1B visa may also be granted to a model who is of distinguished merit and ability in the field of fashion modeling. A model of distinguished merit and ability in the field of fashion modeling is one who is prominent in the field of fashion modeling. The model must also be coming to the United States to perform services that require a fashion model of prominence. The H-1 visa can be filed starting April 1st for an employment start date of October 1st of the same calendar year and is for a 3-year period of temporary employment with the petitioning employer. The H1-B is numerically limited to 65,000 per year so applying as early as possible in April is recommended.

In order to meet the standard for distinguished merit and ability, this usually requires national or international recognition which can be documented by such evidence as clippings showing modeling appearances in recognized and respected publications (aka “tear sheets”).

The petitioner, usually a modeling agency or an agent who is sponsoring the fashion model must establish that the position meets one of the following criteria:
(1) The services to be performed involve events or productions which have a distinguished reputation;
(2) The services are to be performed for an organization or establishment that has a distinguished reputation for, or record of, employing prominent persons.

A petitioner must establish that a beneficiary is a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability by the submission of documentation showing that the alien:
(1) Has achieved national or international recognition and acclaim for outstanding achievements in his or her field as evidenced by reviews in major newspapers, trade journals, magazines, or other published materials;
(2) Has performed and will perform services as a fashion model for employers with a distinguished reputation.
(3) Has received recognition for significant achievements from organizations, critics, fashion houses, modeling agencies, or other recognized experts in the field; or
(4) Commands a high salary or other substantial remuneration for services evidenced by contracts or other reliable evidence.

This is usually evidenced by submitting tear sheets of the fashion model’s appearances in prominent publications such as Vogue, GQ, Elle, and work for major designers such as Armani, Calvin Klein, H&M, Espirit, and the like. Furthermore, the modeling agency must also submit an itinerary – a schedule of what brands, designers, and fashion houses the fashion model will be working for.

Immigrant Visa based on Extraordinary Ability as a Fashion Model: (Greencard)

Models with years of experience that are considered the cream of the crop are generally well-qualified to apply for this visa. The process for an employment-based 1st preference immigrant visa based on extraordinary ability for models is much like the O-1 via process, with more materials (essentially an O-1 visa application on steroids, so to speak). An abundance of tear sheets and reference letters are helpful to exhibit a model’s extraordinary ability as a fashion model. This visa grants the applicant a “green card”, allowing him/her to live and work in the U.S. as a legal permanent resident of the U.S. The current processing time for such application from start to finish is about 1 year, which is a very expedient process by immigration standards.

Here are the steps to begin an immigrant visa (greencard) application for a model:
1. Fill out the attached model bio and visa questionnaire
2. The model should obtain documents from their previous non-immigrant visa application (if applicable) to the best of their ability
3. Gather new/updated tear sheets: at least 50-70
4. Create a list of 10-12 references to obtain letters from them (the attorneys draft the letters)

Please feel free to contact us as info@theartistvisa with any questions you may have about fashion models’ qualifications for these visas, or any others. Enjoy Fashion Week!

Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Artist Visas for Musicians

As part of our new Artist Visa blog initiative, we will profile some of the common questions that relate to a few of the particular occupations we come across. Each industry often has specific issues when applying for an Artist Visa so we figure it would be useful to profile some of these.

We start with musicians. Once you have a sponsor/petitioner for your visa take note of the following that should be prepared and brought to our office;

1. “Portfolio” - while we recognize that musicians do not always necessarily have a traditional portfolio, as a graphic designer would, it is very important that they be able to present one for the O-1 visa. So what does a “portfolio” look like for a musician?
-The first word that comes to mind is press. This can include print media about you, reviews of your work, blog postings that relate to you, promotional material or websites that name you or cite to your performances.
-awards
-album jackets for your work, including collaborations
-”Google yourself” - print out anything about you or your music that comes up
-remember to highlight wherever your name appears
-color copies of your materials are good, in loose single pages (no need to make a book)

2. Recommendation letters - these should be signed by people in your industry who you feel are qualified to comment on the abilities of a musician. These can include fellow musicians, producers, music critics, and music professors, among others. Remember, 8-10 in number is sufficient and our office writes the letters for you once we have your complete CV/resume and list of letter signors.

3. Advisory opinion - many O-1 artist visa applicants are required to submit a consultation letter with their application from a professional organization in their field that states that they are qualified for the O-1 visa. The common one used for musicians is the American Music Federation (AFM).

We hope this has been useful to you, for more information on getting started feel free to reach out to our office.

| Posted in Artist Visa Advice, Music | Submit Comment

Thursday, July 9th, 2009
What About Letters of Recommendation?

One of the artist visa issues I get the most questions regarding centers around recommendation letters, or “referee letters” as some call them. These are extremely important parts of the application and why sometimes O-1 visas are known as “celebrity visas”. Do the referees write them? Should the applicant write them? What role does the lawyer play? Who should sign them? Here, I hope to clarify some of these questions and hopefully save you some time.

1. WHO SIGNS THE LETTTERS?
The signers of referee letters for O-1 visa or artist Greencard applications should be high ranking individuals in (hopefully) well known companies in your field. A recognizable letterhead can be very effective towards adding weight to your application.

2. WHERE SHOULD THE REFEREES COME FROM?
The referees can be anywhere in the world, they do not have to be in the United States, as some people believe. In fact, geographic diversity is a good thing.

3. WHO SHOULD DRAFT THE LETTERS?
I recommend that the letters be drafted or at least outlined by the attorney handling the O-1 visa or the artist visa application. This is because the lawyer knows what the regulations say and can mold the letters to fit within the criteria set forth by the law. I can’t tell you how many letters I have seen written by others that call the applicant “a team player”. This language is not helpful to the application and sometimes, can even damage it.

4. WHAT SHOULD THEY SAY?
The letters should stick to the important facts regarding the careers/portfolios of the applicants. Mixed in with these facts should be very strong descriptive language regarding the relevance of these highlights for obtaining the O-1 artist visa or Greencard.

5. HOW MANY DO I NEED?
I have heard all numbers ranging from 3 to 20. This really depends on the strength of the people signing the letters. This is why you should make a list of people before you even begin the process. Say for example one of your referees is the former lead singer of an extremely famous band. This plus 2 or 3 good letters should be enough as long as the supporting evidence is strong. However, if there is not one that particularly stands out then 5+ letters should be submitted. I normally like to submit five strong, longer letters rather than 10 short very general letters, as I have seen. In my experience this is best. In summary, there is no set number one should have, it really depends on the people signing them.

Until the next time, from the artist visa lawyer, have a great day!

| Posted in Artist Visa Advice | Submit Comment

Monday, June 29th, 2009
CV/Resume Help for Artist Visa Applications….

One of the most common problems I encounter when working on O-1 artist visas or Greencards is actually one of the most understandable; artists have trouble making their CV/resumes. Unfortunately for my line of work the CV or resume becomes one of the most important documents. Here’s a little tip, I will ALWAYS ask you for your CV at the very initial stage in the process, so it helps to have it ready. Here’s some other pointers that should help;

don’t think of the CV as one you would use to apply for a job. The one page rule standard among job applicants definitely does not apply. The one I use and immigration sees is far less official, so list everything (I want to emphasize everything).
“Everything” obviously includes work history and education, but also any media or press your work has received, shows you have performed, leading roles you might have played, awards and of course, where your work has appeared. Having this included will make for a good start.
Feel free to be as creative as you choose when making your CV, just as long as another person can follow it. Artists should be allowed to express their creativity in the artist visa process and the CV is a good place to begin.
The CV/resume should compliment your portfolio and vice-versa, more on portfolios next time my friends, have a good night and best of luck!

| Posted in Artist Visa Advice | 1 Comment