Just realized I didn't write about our meeting with the immigration lawyer last week.
Our visa ends in one year, three months, so we know it's time to start thinking about our next step. We've decided to work with a local lawyer, partly to save money on courier fees, and also because it just seems easier than working with someone halfway across the country. Thus, we are lawyer shopping.
Our main goal with last week's meeting was to check out our options. Should we renew the visa, or should we try for our green cards? I was leaning towards green cards as it would really open up our employment options. Having this O1 visa is great, but it's a struggle trying to get by on one income, especially a singer's income.
Long story short, we are no where close to getting green cards at this time. Basically, the O1 visa requires you to be outstanding in your field. The same category green card requires you to be at the top of your field. You must be charting regularly in the top 10, performing on large platforms, universally regarded as a leader in your field, and, bluntly put, you must make lots and lots and lots of money doing it. I mean, I know we've done well in our two years here, but no one could climb that high that quickly.
So, we're going to apply for another three year visa. We can't apply until next summer, so that gives me another few months to collect letters and other pieces of "evidence".
It's going to be so much work. I'm not looking forward to it, but at least I now know what path we're on.
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