O1 visas normally cost $5000-$10,000 in lawyer fees. This startup that launched today claims that they can help you for just $169 using an online solution.
for some context: I previously was on an O1 visa (before getting my green card), so have done quite a lot of research into this space.
@_jacksmith Hi Jack, I'm a co-founder of FoundVisa - thanks for the hunt! I would like to point out that $169 is only for the prescreening service. It does not cover all other services. But it is significantly cheaper than going the traditional route.
@_jacksmith There are total 3 different services in my startup: Prescreening service, form filling service, and final review service.
-The prescreening service is our review process to check the eligibility of an applicant getting the O-1 visa.
-Form filling service helps you fill out all necessary forms digitally through our dashboard. We can promise that it is a 100x easier than filling it out by hand.
-Final review service is done by a lawyer to review all of an applicant's documents. We just launched the prescreening service recently while the other two are in private beta right now. We will release it once they are fully ready but the demand is through the roof!!
We haven't set a final price for the two services but we expect the complete package should cost less than $2,500 for applicant. Lawyers usually charge at least 2x more for what we're offering! We are very excited to be lowering the barrier for engineers/founders who want to build their dreams in the US.
@rkhkim2010 so right now you only offer the prescreen service for $169? the wording on your website implies that you'll also do the form filling for that price
@_jacksmith We want to be very transparent with users so we've went ahead and fixed the wording! Sorry for the confusion!
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I've watched Ryan and his team work tirelessly on this product for the last six months and I'm a incredibly proud of the progress they have made. As an American I have never had to face this process but I have seen how challenging it can be for talented engineers to come work within the United States. Making the process easier and more affordable for foreigners to come work with Americans is what this country was built upon, and it only serves to benefit us all. Great job Ryan!
Ryan is also working on making the pricing more clear, as that seems to be a point of confusion.
@connormaher92 Your words mean a lot to me, Connor. I really appreciate it!
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@rkhkim2010 this is one the most interesting platforms I´ve ever seen here. I think you are working in something unique, and it could be a very good adding to the Obama´s program called Digital Government strategy https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites... Have you seen that?
@marcosluis2186 Thank you very much for your interest in FoundVisa! We are working very hard at this moment to release our next service. I have heard about it, but do not know about the details of it. I will take a look at it. Thank you very much for your feedback.
Interesting, I have been considering O-1 for a while. Just never wanted to spend nearly $7k in fees. If the pricing could be more transparent, that would help. When I tried signing up, it looks more like a lead gen for O-1 attorneys?
@swarooph Hello, thank you for your interest in FoundVisa! The lawyer reviewing the prescreening service is carefully selected by the FoundVisa team. In this way, we can ensure the quality of the prescreening service and lower the price of the service compared to hiring a lawyer by yourself. Our service is geared towards benefitting users in any situation.
I love the idea. I'm holding an O1-A and would love to have had someone that can eliminate some of the hassle. Now any plans to do something similar for green cards? I've heard some crazy amounts by lawyers
@pfanis Thank you for stopping by FoundVisa! As a beachhead, we are starting with the O-1 visa, but we are definitely planning to expand to other visas in the future.
This looks interesting! A simple FAQ page would already go a long way answering some of the initial questions someone might have before paying the prescreening fee.
@adrianleb Thank you very much for your interest in FoundVisa! We have noticed this issue and are in the middle of implementing the FAQ page. Thank you again!
@rkhkim2010@adrianleb maybe do a few that average product hunters might have. I was looking at this and thought it's only for publicly known or well-achieved people. How does this apply to developers or designers?
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Website seems intentionally misleading with the $169. As mentioned in the comments here it will cost another $2500 to get the actual visa. Really should make that more clear on your website.
@shimmb Hello Simon, thank you for your interest in FoundVisa. Sorry for causing any confusion on your side. I would like to let you know that it is not our intention to purposely mislead our customers. Just to clarify, the prescreening fee will be included in $2,500(For your information, this is not a set price but may be adjusted in the future). FoundVisa team is in the middle of creating FAQ page to get rid of any confusion we are causing with customers. We will update this comment once it is updated. Sorry for the confusion again!
**UPDATE: I want to let you know that we have updated the wording on FoundVisa website! Please take a look at it and let me know if you are still confused!
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@shimmb that is already cheap compared to normal routes
Hire an actual lawyer, you can get an O-1 for $5k or less. I wouldn't risk my future on this (you don't want to be rejected by the US gov). A lot of work goes into a visa petition (my O-1 application was over 100 pages).
@brackin Thank you for stopping by FoundVisa, Andrew. In the past, I have met many O-1 visa holders who paid anywhere from $6,000 to $8,000 to their lawyers. The common things they say are "Hiring a lawyer is too expensive" and "Back to back communication with the lawyer is very inefficient". The motivation behind FoundVisa is to provide cheaper and easier service to all O-1 applicants. FoundVisa team strongly believes that we can utilize the power of software to assist visa applicants in a better manner. Moreover, the lawyer is involved in your application process in FoundVisa to minimize the number of mistakes you make. Additionally, the lawyer working with FoundVisa has experience of processing O-1 visa applications in the US government. FoundVisa services are no different than hiring lawyers by yourself.
@rkhkim2010 Has anyone on your team gone through the process? This system just doesn't make sense with my experience of getting an O-1 visa. Back-to-back communication is because the paperwork is not generic but is highly tailored to your background. I understand your point but feel that this service would just cater to people that don't have a clear narrative for their visa (i.e. best candidates would hire a lawyer as they want highest chance of success).
Would be happy to share more anytime.
@brackin Our two other services(form filling services and final review service) are currently in private beta and processing few cases at this moment. A lot of lawyers use templates to generate O-1 documents and this process can be more efficient using the software. Using the templates, the users can generate documents needed for their circumstances. I am always happy to get feedback from past O-1 visa applicants and would love to discuss with you further. I will ping you separately on Twitter. Again, thank you very much for providing your opinion on this product!
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