A $70,000 Fee Proposal Just Changed the Conversation for International Talent
On October 8, the Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule that would charge schools $70,000 the first time they recommend an international student for Optional Practical Training — and $30,000 for every recommendation after that, including STEM extensions. A student using OPT during school and again after graduation could cost their university $100,000. […]
What Your Attorney Actually Wants From Your Press
A client's immigration attorney recently sent them a checklist for acceptable press coverage. We see versions of this list all the time — and it's worth sharing, because it shows exactly what your press has to do. 1. It must discuss your achievements — explicitly. The article should specifically cover your career achievements. If it […]
Your Press Work Isn’t Over When You File
Most applicants treat press as a box to check before submission. The smart ones keep building — and it pays off in ways they didn't expect. The typical O-1 press timeline looks like this: panic three months before filing, scramble for coverage, submit the petition, exhale, never think about press again. That’s understandable — and […]
How to Talk About Your Achievements So a Journalist Cares
There's an art to describing your own work — and most high achievers are terrible at it. Here's what we coach our clients to do. The people with the strongest O-1 cases are often the worst at describing what they’ve done. Not because their work isn’t remarkable — because they’ve spent years inside it, and […]
What an Editor Sees in Your Story (That You Don’t)
Applicants pitch their résumé. Editors are looking for something else entirely. That gap is where most DIY press efforts die. When applicants try to get press on their own, they almost always lead with the same thing: credentials. Awards, titles, degrees, years of experience. It’s the strongest material they have, so it feels like the […]
AI-Written Press Won’t Survive a Petition Review
Officers can tell the difference between journalism and generated content. Here's how — and why it matters for your case. There’s a shortcut making the rounds in O-1 prep: generate your own press with AI, publish it somewhere that will take anything, and file it as evidence. It’s fast, it’s cheap, and adjudicators can spot […]