The LA times reported last week that USCIS has launched an initiative to stop O1 visa denials, delays and unfair requests for evidence for those O1 visas processed through the California Service Center. This is being done in an effort to ease restrictions on international artists and welcome them to come and perform in the US.
Some immediate results have been O1 visa processing in 15 days, without having to pay an additional premium processing fee. We applaud this new effort, which will hopefully lead to quicker and less restrictive O1 visa processing for all artists wishing to share their talents with US audiences, while being less expensive to the petitioning organizations.
For a full copy of the article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-workvisa-20100810,0,5547443.story