Has anyone had cases where premium processing for an O-1 visa was delayed for a year? I’ve heard such stories — I want to understand whether these are real precedents or exaggerations.
Detailed analysis of the topic: O-1 visa: petitioner, agent, agent scheme
A year is realistic — and not just in theory. Gathering the documents from scratch takes about three months, then there’s the lawyer’s workload and motivation, and then the queue. Without premium processing you can wait forever — USCIS’s site has no guaranteed timelines. With premium it’s 15 business days for the first response, but if an RFE arrives, add another month or two while they prepare the answer.
Honestly, a year is quite realistic — not an exaggeration. I filed my O-1A without premium processing — I was looking at 7–8 months of waiting just for the petition. With premium processing it’s officially 15 business days to the first response, but an RFE (Request for Evidence) on top adds another 6–8 weeks. An RFE doesn’t mean denial — it went fine for me)
A year without premium processing is still optimistic — my O-1 visa in Warsaw took longer.