✅ O-1: approval
Sophia Lyakhovych successfully received an O-1 visa after attending an interview in Warsaw, despite complications with U4U and RFE.
Case details
Filing: 24 November 2025
Decision: 5 February 2026
Category: O-1
Timeline: 14 business days of premium processing before RFE
How it went
hi everyone! i’ll share my O-1 story — maybe it’ll be useful to someone.
i was in the US for 3.5 years under the U4U program, then had the first TPS, then re-parole, and i never received the second TPS.
on Monday, April 27, i successfully completed the interview in Warsaw for the O-1 visa; on Tuesday afternoon the passport was already ready, and on Wednesday i picked it up with the visa.
i applied for the visa as a Social Media Producer. the whole time i was in the US, building the case and filing it from inside the country. we filed the case on 24 November 2025; on the 14th business day of premium processing i received an RFE. that happened right over the Christmas holidays — just before Christmas a letter with details arrived: USCIS was unhappy that i had U4U, they had no questions about the case itself) in January 2026 the lawyer sent them a response. on 5 February 2026 USCIS wrote that the case was approved, but they couldn’t change the status — it would need to be obtained at the embassy.
after that everything followed the usual routine) i filled out the form, picked an embassy appointment for April 27 (it could have been earlier, but i decided to combine it with a trip to Europe).
someone in the chat here wrote that after U4U “you can forget” about nonimmigrant visas to the US… well
Main insight
“Even with U4U you can successfully obtain an O-1 visa if you prepare the case properly and respond to the RFE.”
Sophia Lyakhovych (@Lyakhovych)
2025-11-24
Filing of the O-1 visa case
2026-02-05
Case approved by USCIS
2026-04-27
Interview in Warsaw
2026-04-28
Passport received with visa
Author of the story
Sophia Lyakhovych (@Lyakhovych), from the @talentvisahelp chat. Original message in the chat.
Helpful resources
All information about O-1 / EB-1A / EB-2 NIW
More success and denial stories: channel @o1eb1