Case study: How a product designer used Press Here to strengthen her O-1 visa case
Background
When Allison Kim, a product designer working in New York, began preparing her O-1 visa application, she faced a common challenge:
She had strong work experience, shipped products used by thousands of people, and recognition within her company, but her work was largely invisible outside the companies she worked for, and she had very little public press coverage.
Her immigration attorney advised her that third-party press coverage could help strengthen key O-1 criteria related to published material and professional recognition.
The problem? She had no idea where to publish, which media outlets mattered, or how to approach editors. She needed:
- Articles that could support her O-1 visa petition
- Professional press coverage that highlighted her achievements
- Publications relevant to design and technology
- A streamlined process without traditional PR agency costs
That’s when she found Press Here, a press agency designed for creatives, designers, engineers, founders, and other professionals seeking to build public recognition through press coverage.
Step 1: Submitting the Press Request Form
Allison began by submitting a press request through Press Here's website.
The form only required basic information, including: Name, Email address, Job title, Industry, and Topics she wanted to be featured on.
The goal at this stage was simply to understand her background and the types of stories she wanted to tell. Unlike traditional PR agencies that require lengthy discovery sessions upfront, the process was designed to be quick and straightforward, allowing Allison to get started in just a few minutes.
Once submitted, the Press Here team reviewed her information and prepared a list of media opportunities that aligned with her professional background and goals.
Step 2: Reviewing Recommended Publications
After submitting her request, Allison received access to her personalized Customer Dashboard.
Rather than searching through hundreds of media outlets on her own, she was presented with a curated list of publications that matched her background as a product designer.
For each publication, the dashboard provided 3 main factors that USCIS cares about:
- Monthly web traffic
- Whether the publication included a paid content or sponsored content disclaimer
- Whether articles displayed an author name or byline
For each media outlet, Allison could review up to five sample articles previously published for Press Here customers.
This gave her a realistic understanding of each publication's writing style, article structure, and overall presentation.
After reviewing the available options and discussing them with her immigration attorney, Allison selected several publications that aligned with her professional achievements.
Step 3: Article Drafting
After selecting her publications, Allison moved on to the article drafting stage.
For each media outlet, she submitted more detailed information about the story she wanted to tell, including: Professional achievements, Career milestones, Notable projects, Awards and recognitions, and Supporting images.
She also had the option to provide instructions to the media outlet writer regarding how she wanted her work and accomplishments to be portrayed. For example, she wanted the article to be written in an interview format, that emphasized her leadership experience, design philosophy, entrepreneurial journey, or impact within her industry.
When she was ready, she submitted the article content, which immediately sent the article content to the media outlet writer for drafting.
Once the draft was ready, Allison reviewed it. She could either approve the first draft as is, or request changes to the draft.
She wanted to remove the "Advice and Reflection" section of the article, as she thought that it could be interpreted as a little arrogant.
The writer then revised the article based on her comments and prepared a final draft for approval.
When she received the final draft, she was happy to see that the writer had listened to her feedback and removed the "Advice and Reflection" section.
This collaborative process ensured that the article accurately reflected Allison's professional background while maintaining the publication's editorial style. Only after Allison provided final sign-off was the article submitted for publication.
Step 4: Publishing the Articles
After approving the final drafts, Allison wanted to space out the publication of her articles.
She had the freedom to click the "Send for publishing" button for each media outlet whenever she wanted to publish her article.
This allowed her to control the timing of her articles being published and the order in which they were published.
When the article was published, Allison was able to review the live link in her customer dashboard.
Conclusion
For Allison, Press Here streamlined the process of getting press coverage for her O-1 visa application.
Instead manually researching which publications are relevant to her field, cold emailing hundreds of editors, and attempting to navigate media outreach alone, she was able to expedite the process through Press Here's streamlined and modern process.
