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Can video be used as evidence?

Key answer

Video links do not work on their own: in members' experience officers do not click links or insert flash drives and discs (USCIS explicitly asks not to send them), and without text nobody will watch the video. The working format is a screenshot of the video with a description of its content, a short summary, information about the channel, a transcript of the key part with a timecode, placed in the petition text with a reference to the exhibits. Interviews on popular channels are attached to the media criterion - there are approved petitions where the media section included an interview on a channel with tens of thousands of subscribers, but closing an entire criterion with video alone is unlikely.
Check a journal or outlet for the petition

Community answers

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

  • The question of how to properly format such material is incorrect: however you format it, it will be correct if you receive approval. In a known approved EB-1 case, a screenshot of a video and a description of the video were included, such as a summary, along with information about the channel itself. I have not seen other successful examples.

  • The point is that if you provide a link to a video and it contains something valuable, then without text, i.e., a transcript, no one will believe it, and no one will watch your videos at USCIS. We do not know if they read the text, but if it is absent, they constantly write: why did you send us a link to the video.

  • Make a transcript of the important part and add a timestamp. For the conference - also provide evidence for evidence: who the organizer is, the scale, participants, influence on the industry. Highlight sections in the text where your contribution is so the officer does not have to search.

  • Interviews that a person conducted for popular video channels are often included as evidence for the media criterion. I know of such petitions that were approved for EB-1. It is difficult to say whether a video alone can close an entire criterion; it's more likely no than yes, although some submit one publication and receive approval. Many factors influence how a person proves each piece of evidence.

  • No one will manually type a link to a website, simply due to lack of time; they might not have internet access on their work computers. No one will insert a flash drive or disks, at least for security reasons: they state on their website not to send disks, flash drives, and other media, as we will not consider them.

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

Why "Published material about you" gets refused

Accepted in 24% of challenged petitions (47 of 200); not an approval rate.

The material is not about you. Industry round-ups, event recaps and pieces where you merely comment on someone else’s topic do not qualify: it must be about you and your work.

All refusal grounds and the sample

Sources

All questions on: The petition and formattingAll questions on: Media about youAll questions on: Original contributionAll 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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