Social media influencers

Welcome back to the Immigration Lawyer Blog, where we discuss all things immigration. In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick answers one of your frequently asked questions: can a TikTok star or social media influencer apply for a U.S. Visa?

Keep on watching to find out more.

Overview

TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with many finding success by attracting the attention of thousands and even millions of the site’s visitors. This has led many successful social media personalities to ask: Is it possible to work in the United States as a social media influencer? What are the steps involved? What type of U.S. visa is right for me and what are the requirements?

The reality is that the U.S. immigration system is extremely outdated with most visa categories passed by statute in the early 1990’s. As a result, there is no designated visa classification for social media influencers per se. Luckily, the O-1B visa category for individuals of extraordinary ability or achievement in the arts, is flexible enough to apply to social media influencers who have received employment opportunities to collaborate with brands in the United States.

As more and more U.S. companies have come to rely on social media influencers to elevate their brand and market their products and services, immigration has come to recognize the importance of their contributions to the U.S. economy, and has increasingly allowed social media influencers to demonstrate their extraordinary ability by way of the O-1B visa.

Have you ever wondered what visa options are available to social media influencers?

Social media influencers have quickly become of the biggest assets for brands seeking to reach millennial audiences by way of influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing refers to a business collaboration with an influential person on social media to promote a product, service, or a campaign. Social media influencers are those who have amassed a large following on social media and have established credibility among their followers within their specific industry.

An influencer can come to the United States and work with brands to promote their goods or services by applying for the O-1B visa for aliens of extraordinary ability in the arts.

To qualify for an O-1 visa, the social media influencer must demonstrate extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim via social media, and seek to come to the United States to work with companies using their social media platform.

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