A senior film and TV producer whose earlier O-1 and later EB-1A we handled from start to finish. When she applied to extend her O-1, only a week and a half remained on her status, while the union consultation letter would take up to 14 days to arrive.

She had to choose between protecting her lawful status and waiting for a complete filing. Filing with incomplete materials was very likely to trigger an RFE.

Instead of waiting for the union letter, we filed before her status expired to secure her lawful stay. As expected, an RFE followed, but USCIS asked only for two union letters and raised no questions about her professional ability. We quickly supplied them and closed out the case.

O-1 extension approved; the whole process took just over 40 days.