Optimized for OnlyFans: America's 'Extraordinary Artist' visa now favors engagement over art

A Financial Times report says immigration lawyers are increasingly using social-media metrics to support O-1B visa petitions for influencers and OnlyFans creators, who now comprise a large share of some firms' clients; traditional visual and experimental artists report more difficulty meeting the visa's evidentiary rules.

John Lennon's 1970s deportation fight helped inspire the O-1B visa, created in 1990 to admit artists of extraordinary ability. A recent Financial Times report says immigration lawyers now represent growing numbers of social-media creators and OnlyFans models seeking O-1B visas. Attorneys report that follower counts, brand partnerships and platform revenue are being framed as evidence of distinction. Several traditional artists and a 2021 Hyperallergic investigation describe more complicated evidentiary hurdles under current rules. What is reported: - The Financial Times reports that influencers and OnlyFans creators make up more than half of some immigration lawyers' O-1B clients. - One attorney's first OnlyFans client was reported as earning $250,000 per month. - Lawyers say large follower counts and commercial partnerships are being used to show "commercial success" or expert endorsement, and public appearances are framed as leading roles in events. - A 2021 Hyperallergic investigation reported that traditional artists face requirements such as multiple recommendation letters, future work contracts, and press clips, and that group shows, some virtual exhibitions, and untranslated foreign coverage were often treated as weak evidence. - USCIS does not publish O-1B approval statistics broken down by profession, so public data on approval patterns by artistic field is not available. Summary: Reportedly, social-media engagement metrics are increasingly translated into the O-1B visa's evidence categories, and some immigration firms now serve large numbers of influencers. The reporting also describes persistent difficulties for many traditional visual and experimental artists under existing evidentiary rules. Undetermined at this time.