Why I Sometimes Tell O-1 Visa Holders to Wait Before Filing for a Green Card

I have a client who's been working in the U.S. on an O-1 for several years. They've never brought up a green card.

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I thought about raising it but decided not to.

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Normally, someone renews an O-1 a couple of times and the next conversation is permanent residence. Most people expect it.

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But the extraordinary ability green card is a higher bar than the O-1. It isn't something you graduate into by having a certain number of O-1 petitions approved.

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She works in film. She's on serious projects with people who matter in her field, but her roles support the person in charge rather than being that person. Filing now would mean asking one officer, in this environment, to look at that and call it extraordinary.

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I don't think this is the right time. So I didn't bring it up.

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The wider version of that advice: if your work status was just approved for another few years and nothing's forcing your hand, no child aging out, no hard deadline, then depending on the facts of your case, it may make more sense to wait.

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In the meantime, keep working and keep building the record. The same officer sitting in that chair three years from now could be working under very different instructions than the ones they've got today.

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I'm aware how that sounds coming from a law firm. Telling people not to file isn't a growth strategy.

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But a denial isn't neutral. It doesn't disappear. It sits in the file and the next officer reads it. I'd much rather she filed in two years with a record that's hard to argue with than this year with one that isn't.

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That being said, every case is different, and it is worth discussing your timeline with a lawyer who knows your specific facts.