Plain-language guides to U.S. visa categories, each grounded in primary authority — what it is, whether you can self-petition, the criteria, an honest cost and timeline, and where a licensed attorney adds value. Informational only, not legal advice.
Alma is an attorney-led immigration service with flat-fee O-1 at $8,000 and EB-1A/EB-2 NIW at $10,000, including RFE/NOID response and one free refile on denial. JustiGuide is a self-serve platform with attorney review at $5,944 for guided filing. Here's exactly what each includes, verified against both companies' own pages.
Manifest Law is a full-service immigration law firm with tiered O-1 plans from $6,999 to $12,500 and EB-1 from $8,995, offering money-back guarantees and included RFEs at its higher tiers. JustiGuide is a self-serve platform with attorney review at $5,944 for guided filing. Here's what each actually includes, verified against both companies' own pages.
E-1 is the U.S. treaty trader visa: a citizen of a treaty country — or a key employee of a treaty-country business — can live in the U.S. to carry on substantial, continuous trade that is principally between the U.S. and that country. No investment is required, there is no dollar minimum, it renews in two-year increments without limit, and you can apply for it yourself.
E-2 is the U.S. treaty investor visa: a citizen of a treaty country who has invested a substantial, at-risk amount in a real U.S. business can live in the U.S. to run it. There is no fixed minimum investment, it renews in two-year increments without limit, your spouse can work — and unlike the O-1, you can apply for it yourself.
EB-1A is the U.S. employment-based green card for people of extraordinary ability. It can be self-petitioned — no employer or job offer required — which makes it one of the few immigrant categories a qualified applicant can pursue independently.
The EB-2 National Interest Waiver lets an advanced-degree professional or person of exceptional ability self-petition for a green card — waiving the employer and labor certification — if their work is in the national interest, judged under the three-prong Dhanasar test.
Universities, university-affiliated nonprofits, and nonprofit or government research organizations are exempt from the annual H-1B cap. Their H-1B petitions are filed outside the lottery, any time of year — the main path to an H-1B without winning the random selection.
The N-400 is the application for U.S. citizenship. Most green-card holders qualify after five years as a permanent resident (three if married to a U.S. citizen), and it is one of the most commonly self-filed immigration applications.
An O-1 petition has three cost layers: USCIS government fees, optional premium processing, and professional help — which ranges from roughly $8,000–$10,000 for attorney-led flat-fee services to around $6,000 for self-serve platforms with attorney review. What you're actually paying for differs more than the totals suggest.
O-1A is the U.S. temporary work visa for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics. Unlike the EB-1A green card, it cannot be self-petitioned — a U.S. employer or agent must file — and it turns on meeting at least three of eight regulatory criteria.
Some U.S. immigration paths let you file for yourself, with no employer and no job offer. EB-1A and EB-2 NIW are the two self-petition green cards; O-1A cannot be self-filed but is reachable through your own company or an agent. Here is how they compare.