O2 Visa Checklist (Essential Support Staff)

The overall emphasis on the documents and requirements/criteria of a O2 visa petition is that the O2 support staff has a specific relationship with the O1 visa worker that is hard to replace. For example, the O2 support staff working for a O1B MPTV worker in the motion picture or television industry would need to show that they have non-generic skills and experience with the O1B MPTV worker because of working together for a long period of time in the past or alternatively the O2 support staff would need to show that their connection with the O1B MPTV worker is because of a specific production which usually has already started overseas and the production that will continue in the United States would require the O2 support staff to work on it. In both scenarios, the O2 visa worker must have a non-generic specific tie to the O1 visa worker because the O2 visa is dependent on the O1 visa and it cannot be filed as a stand-alone visa petition.

The requirements for a O2 visa petition are extensive and while ticking the boxes of requirements sounds simple enough, figuring out what items should be included and strategizing how the petition is presented is not. It is common practice and strongly encouraged to obtain an attorney for employment-based nonimmigrant visa petitions.