My immigration experience

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In 2020 I applied I-526 form for my EB-5 visa. At that time, I would be surprised to find out that I would get approval for the highest preference visa, known as EB-1A, and I didn’t know that the EB-5 petition would be my insurance or “guaranteed” option to get Lawful Permanent status (Green Card). My EB-5 case was massive, more than 1551 pages, and I prepared it 100% myself! My attorney helped me find a good Regional Center, and thank you for it. The case was massive because I had different income sources from my businesses. It was complex work for me at the beginning to show everything correctly, and I did it. Through my experience of preparing for the EB-5 case, I learned a lot, and the case was more significant than my book about commercial real estate published in 2021; how cool is that? 

In late 2020, covid-19 was everywhere; all embassies were closed or operated exceptionally slowly. I discussed it with the attorney, and we decided to come to the USA in 2021 and apply for O-1A talented individual visa before getting my EB-5 approval. I checked USCIS requirements on uscis.gov.com and started to prepare my documents. Even though my O-1A case was a bit smaller than my EB-5 case, just 1150 pages, it took much work to collect, design, and organize all evidence according to the 8 O-1A visa criteria. I prepared a big detailed plan, wrote down what I would need, and I started to take action to create this non-immigration case. The most challenging part is that USCIS requirements are extensive, and you need to spend so much time researching that, and attornies will only give you a little information from the USCIS website. This was challenging. 

When I got the approval for my O-1A case in a couple of months, I decided to try to apply for EB-1A extraordinary individual visa. EB-1A visa is the most difficult to get and has the highest preference among the other visa types. At this moment, I started to prepare this case again for myself. After almost 95% preparation was done, I felt like a professional bureaucrat because I knew how to dig documents after EB-5, O-1A, and EB-1A. I had lunch with an attorney and thanked him; he was open and honest, telling me he needed to gain experience in EB-1A cases in my field. Even though I was sure I was ready for 95%, I needed to find the right attorney to check my case before applying.  So, I found one professional with whom I had never met in real life, but he helped organize all my documents and adequately put them, and, more important, he was sure that I would get approval. Thank you for your belief and knowledge. My EB-1A petition, the most challenging visa type in the US, had been approved!

Keep in mind that your status should be legal all the time! It is so crucial for your immigration case that no matter what, keep it legal. The US immigration system is open and welcoming for all immigrants. You need to follow the rule because the US is the country of the Law. At the same time, immigration policy is so welcoming to ex-pats that you can apply simultaneously for different visas. So think about that; even if your current visa is going to be expired, I am sure you can use some of the obvious ones to get some time before preparing for the one you need. Book an appointment when you need to know more. 

These guys are essential; they can help you a lot and make you fail as well. The beauty of the USCIS is that you can apply without attorneys, but it could be risky because of a lack of experience. What do you need to know before contracting an immigration attorney? According to my personal experience, and I spoke with more than 20 immigration attorneys, the most reliable attorneys will ask you to send them material about you to understand how far you fit on the USCIS requirements for your visa type. Even more likely, they will not charge you money for your first consultation. Please book an appointment when you need to know more about them.

When you start your immigration process, you should know for sure why you started to do it and for what reason. Remember that your goal is citizenship or at least lawful permanent residence status. In this way, you put so much effort, time, money, and emotional state that you need to remember why you do it! Because in some part of your way, it could be so challenging that you are already here, and at the same time, one part of you is still there. It is tough to give up all you had and start from scratch without knowing anybody in a new country, culture, and society, but it is worth it! Go through it, be active, be persistent, and be positive, and you will find your success.