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O-1 Visa Petition

O-1 visa petition work that shows the attorney which criteria the evidence meets before anyone writes a word, then drafts a petition with a page behind each sentence.

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Follow a petition from upload to approval ↓
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The problem

A paralegal sorts the whole record by hand before anyone sees its shape

The candidate sends everything at once: a CV, dozens of papers, a citation report, press, prize letters, reviewer emails and company records. A paralegal reads it all and rules on each piece, whether a review invitation counts as judging, whether an article about the company counts as press about the candidate. Most of a first draft’s hours go to that reading and sorting.

The partner sees the shape of the case only when the draft is half done. A weak criterion gets argued because it was drafted first, and strong evidence sits in the wrong section. Expert letters come back in the firm’s voice and get discounted. Nobody tests what the count looks like if the officer doubts one exhibit, so a request for more evidence turns into a second filing on a flat fee.

Built forImmigration attorneysPetition paralegalsManaging partnersBeneficiaries

The Problem Today

Sorting a candidate’s evidence into criteria eats most of the drafting hours, and the attorney sees the result late.

18.7%
of O-1 petitions drew a request for more evidence in 2025 published
3,000+
O-1 petitions filed in June 2025 alone published

Read and sorted today

  • Papers
  • Citations
  • Awards
  • Letters
  • Hours before a wordSorting eats the hours before drafting starts
  • Weak criteria arguedStrong evidence sits unused in the wrong section

The Solution

  1. Each exhibit mappedSorted into the eight criteria with the passage behind it
  2. Strength rated, gaps listedStrong, moderate or weak per criterion, and what would lift it
  3. Attorney picks the criteriaThe attorney of record confirms which ones the petition argues
  4. Petition drafted, citedLetters from each signer’s own facts, and a page behind each sentence

Built-in controls

  • Filing approval belongs to the signing attorney alone
  • Signers confirm the facts in their own letters
  • Each petition’s files stay inside the firm’s workspace

What You Get

The firm argues its strongest criteria and knows before filing what holds if an officer doubts one exhibit.

8 hours
of drafting time per petition, down from 30–40 our estimate
  • Each sentence citedEach claim in the petition opens the exhibit page behind it
  • A challenge test before filingSwitch off a doubtful exhibit and see the count re-rated
  • O-1A or EB-1A, same evidenceSwitch the ruleset and see the ten EB-1A criteria
Read, mapped, rated, drafted

How an O-1 visa petition comes together, criterion by criterion

The screens run in the order a petition is built: each feature, the steps it takes and whose work it serves.

  1. 01Fact ledger

    A fact ledger that keeps each fact with its exhibit page

    How it works

    • CVs, papers, citation reports, press, prize and review records read page by page
    • Of 74 files, 61 exhibits kept, 412 pages, and 13 set aside as duplicates or drafts
    • Each fact shows its exhibit page, its criterion and its strength
    • Facts the candidate has not yet confirmed are marked to confirm

    Petition paralegalSkips the week of reading a candidate’s folder before anyone can say what it proves, and shows which facts still need the candidate’s word.

  2. 02Criteria matrix

    A criteria matrix with a strength dot on each exhibit

    How it works

    • Eight criterion columns, each with its rating and its exhibit count
    • Each exhibit carries a dot: strong, supporting or weak
    • A new upload waits in a tray until the agents map it
    • The area chair invitation lands in judging as Ex. 52, and judging turns moderate

    Attorney of recordKnows on the first day which criteria the record supports; halfway through the draft is too late to find out.

  3. 03Criterion guidance

    Criterion guidance showing why each rating holds and what would lift it

    How it works

    • The rule in plain words beside what officers look for
    • The rater’s reasoning names the exhibits behind the rating
    • Invitations alone weigh less than reviews actually completed
    • 11 completed reviews and 22 assigned papers carry judging to moderate

    Petition paralegalEnds the weekly debate over whether a review invitation counts as judging, because the screen shows what counts and why.

  4. 04Criteria confirmed

    Criteria picks the attorney confirms before the petition outline appears

    How it works

    • The rater suggests the strongest criteria and leaves the weak ones out
    • The picks lock only when the signing attorney confirms them
    • Four picked against three needed, a margin of one
    • A 38-page outline appears, section by section, with its exhibit ranges

    Attorney of recordPuts the strongest criteria first, so no section gets argued only because someone happened to draft it early.

  5. 05Gaps

    Gaps ranked by what each one would change in the matrix

    How it works

    • Each gap shows the criterion it lifts or protects if doubted
    • Five open, and two recommended before filing
    • One action per gap: ask the candidate, ask for a letter, or dismiss
    • A dismissal needs a reason, and the reason goes in the audit

    Petition paralegalChases only the two items that move the case, so the candidate is not asked for everything again.

  6. 06Request to the candidate

    One plain request to the candidate, with why each item counts

    How it works

    • Drafted from the open gaps, in plain words
    • A reviewer page, an investor letter with two customer contracts, and press on the prize
    • Each item gets its own upload slot in the candidate’s portal
    • The paralegal signs off before anything reaches the candidate

    Petition paralegalReplaces a run of follow-up emails with one message the candidate can answer the same day.

  7. 07Expert letters

    Expert letters drafted only from facts each signer confirmed

    How it works

    • The facts a signer confirmed on a call or in writing sit beside the draft
    • A sentence with no confirmed fact behind it is not drafted
    • A tag shows whether the signer has ever worked with the candidate
    • Status runs drafted, attorney review, with the signer, then signed

    Associate attorneyGets letters built on each signer’s own knowledge, where a generic letter written by the firm and signed by the expert gets discounted.

  8. 08Final merits and challenge test

    A challenge test that switches off an exhibit and re-rates the criteria

    How it works

    • The totality argument in the officer’s terms, 9 of 9 claims cited
    • Switch off any exhibit as if the officer doubted it
    • Doubt both Ex. 38 and Ex. 52, and 3 of 4 criteria hold, the minimum
    • The verdict names what to add: the completion record or the company’s standing

    Attorney of recordLearns before filing which single exhibit the case leans on, and shores it up instead of answering a request for more evidence later.

  9. 09Petition letter

    A petition letter with an exhibit page behind each sentence

    How it works

    • Drafted from the confirmed criteria in the firm’s own style: 38 pages, 214 of 214 sentences cited
    • Each cite opens the exhibit passage it rests on
    • A sentence without an exhibit page cannot be saved
    • Approval for filing is the signing attorney’s alone

    Attorney of recordApproves a draft that can be checked claim by claim, two days before the filing target.

Doubt the area chair invitation and the petition falls to the minimum

The challenge test, run on this petition before filing. Each row switches off a single exhibit and re-rates what it supports.

If the officer doubtsWhat fallsCriteria still argued
Ex. 23, the adoption letter from an outside company’s technology chiefOriginal contributions, strong to moderate4
Ex. 38, the funding summary of a two-year-old companyCritical role, strong to moderate4
Ex. 52, the area chair invitation, its reviews assigned and not yet doneJudging, moderate to weak3, the minimum: add the completion record
Ex. 4, the citation reportNothing: 18 other scholarly exhibits stand4
More of the petition

Six more screens the partner, associate and paralegal open on an O-1 petition

Passages, the second ruleset, a signed letter, the record of who did what, and the roles behind it.

The passage behind a mappingEach exhibit opens the passage it was mapped on, with its page, its strength and whether the candidate confirmed it.
A critical role at a young companyThe candidate’s role reads strong: leads 14 of 41 staff and owns the research roadmap. The company is two years old, so its standing needs independent proof.
The same exhibits under EB-1AOne switch lays the exhibits against the ten EB-1A criteria. The same five have evidence, and the confirmed outline stays as it was.
A signed letter from an outside expertA signer who has never worked with the candidate, the three facts the signer confirmed, and each claim in the letter cited to an exhibit page.
Who mapped, rated, picked and approvedAgents and people in one order: the mapping of Ex. 52, the four criteria confirmed, both challenge tests and the approval for filing.
Who may pick, review and approveEach role with what it can and cannot do. The paralegal cannot pick criteria, the associate cannot approve, and the candidate cannot see ratings.

Criteria picks, signatures and the filing belong to people at the firm

The agents sort and draft. These five calls are made by the attorneys, the paralegals and the signers.

Which criteria to argueThe rater suggests. The attorney of record confirms the picks, and each change is logged.
Approval for filingThe signing attorney approves, which locks the text, and agents never file.
What a signer saysSigners confirm their own facts, edit the draft and sign it themselves.
Anything sent to the candidateA paralegal or an attorney approves each request before it reaches the portal.
A gap left openDismissing a gap takes a person and a reason, and both go in the audit.
Who does the drafting

Six agents read, map, rate and draft while the attorney of record decides

What each agent works on, and the step it leaves to a person.

Evidence reader

Reads CVs, papers, citation reports, press, prize and review records, and pulls out each fact with its page.

  • Never changes a fact
  • A fact without a page is not used
Criteria mapper

Sorts each exhibit into the O-1A or EB-1A criteria, with the passage that supports it.

  • Never maps an exhibit without quoting it
Strength rater

Rates each criterion against the firm’s strength rules and lists what would strengthen it.

  • Never picks the criteria to argue
Letter drafter

Drafts expert letters and the advisory opinion request from each signer’s confirmed facts.

  • Never signs
  • Never writes a fact the signer has not confirmed
Merits writer

Writes the final merits argument in the officer’s terms and runs the challenge test.

  • Never claims more acclaim than the exhibits show
Petition drafter

Drafts the petition letter, the exhibit index and requests to the candidate, with each sentence cited.

  • Never files
  • Never sends

O-1 visa petition questions on criteria, letters and the challenge test

What is an O-1 visa petition, and what does this solution do with one?

An O-1 visa petition asks for a visa on extraordinary ability. The evidence must meet at least three of eight criteria, then show sustained acclaim on the whole record. This solution maps each exhibit to a criterion with a strength rating, lists the gaps, and drafts the letters and the petition with each sentence cited.

Does it decide which criteria the petition argues?

No. The strength rater suggests the strongest criteria and says why weak ones should stay out. The attorney of record confirms the picks, and only then does the petition outline appear.

What evidence counts as a critical role at a young company?

The role is shown by founding papers, the org chart and letters on what depends on the candidate. A young company also needs independent proof of its standing, such as an investor letter, customer contracts or trade coverage, so the gap list asks for it before filing.

How are expert letters kept from reading like the firm wrote them?

Each letter is drafted only from facts its signer confirmed on a call or in writing. Those facts sit beside the draft, with a tag showing whether the signer has worked with the candidate. Signers edit and sign their own letters.

Can the same evidence support an EB-1A petition?

Yes. One switch lays the exhibits against the ten EB-1A criteria, and the final merits pass works the same way. The firm sets which ruleset new petitions start with.

What does the candidate see?

A portal to upload files and confirm facts about their own record, and one plain request when something is missing. The candidate does not see the strength ratings or the draft petition.

How is the candidate’s data handled?

Client files are kept inside the firm’s own workspace, and no model is trained on them. Each read, mapping, rating, pick and signature is logged, and the file is deleted, with a log, when the firm’s retention period ends.

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Find the exhibit a petition leans on
before the officer does.

Pick a petition your firm already filed: we’ll map its exhibits, rate its criteria and run the challenge test on it with you.

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