Comment by shagie
1 day ago
> Benefit to the person is probably a path to citizenship
As I understand it, from an O-1 visa (a temporary one that needs to be renewed every year after the third), the next step is the Employment-Based Immigration: First Preference EB-1 visa.
https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent...
> You may be eligible for an employment-based, first-preference visa if you are an alien of extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a certain multinational executive or manager. Each occupational category has certain requirements that must be met ...
An OF model isn't likely to fall under the "outstanding professors and researchers" or the "certain multinational executive"... so we're going with the extraordinary ability criteria.
> You must meet at least 3 of the 10 criteria* below, or provide evidence of a one-time achievement (i.e., Pulitzer, Oscar, Olympic Medal) as well as evidence showing that you will be continuing to work in the area of your expertise. No offer of employment or labor certification is required.
More on the specifics can be found at https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-f-chapter-...
After reading this... I'm going to say that it is unlikely that an OF model would meet the requirements for an EB-1 visa as a path to citizenship.
Thanks for the research. I didn't know that at all. I guess the main path to citizenship then is getting a green card and citizenship by marriage. That's a very real possibility which wouldn't be nearly as easy to do if you were working from Russia or Colombia.