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Who writes the recommendation letters?

Key answer

In practice the letter text is usually drafted by the applicant, an assistant or the lawyer from your bio and your description of the relationship, and the experts read, edit what they disagree with, and sign - easier than asking them to write in the required format. Collecting articles and materials also goes to an assistant; signatures are gathered through an e-signature service, with rare exceptions for originals. Recommenders you do not know are worth more: write directly to professors, chief engineers, executives - someone will agree. For EB-1A members aim for six to eight letters from respected people in your field, about your contribution rather than where you crossed paths.

Community answers

The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.

  • I used the help of the PR manager from my agency to gather all articles and recommendations in English in PDF format. A helper is definitely needed here; it takes quite a bit of time. Everything can be signed through an e-signature service, with one small exception: we only required one original document package signed by a second partner in the American company.

  • I agree. It's easier for a person to sign a ready-made recommendation and make changes if the recommender disagrees with something than to ask them to write it themselves in the required format. My husband and I wrote it ourselves, people read it, agreed, and signed.

  • It definitely takes a lot of time. The case text is written by the attorney. My assistant drafted the recommendations for me, and then I signed them with all the experts. This can be handed off to an assistant, and gathering articles and material for the case can also be given to an assistant.

  • Search for help: you need to look for unfamiliar recommenders, they are more valuable. Write to unknown people and ask - professors, chief engineers, managers; someone will agree in any case.

  • My attorney wrote letters based on my autobiography description and my relationships with the recommenders. I prepared the presentations myself, resulting in a portfolio of several hundred pages. Ideally, you should have six to eight letters from respected individuals in your field, and they should not focus on where you crossed paths but on your contributions to the field, emphasizing that you are a unique individual.

The answers are anonymized community experience from the public chats, not legal advice. Officers may decide similar cases differently.

Sources

All questions on: Recommendation lettersAll questions on: The petition and formattingAll questions on: EB-1AAll questions on: O-1 visa

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A reference page built from community experience, not legal advice. Requirements and practice change - verify on uscis.gov.

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