What type of LOR is acceptable for promise?

Hello, I am a product designer in Lagos Nigeria and I am planning to apply for the exceptional promise visa.

I am planning to get letter of recommendations from;

  1. The CTO of the current company I work with
  2. The Head of Design at a different company (we went to school together and he knows my work extensively)
  3. One of my mentors who is the CEO of another product-led company.

My major concern here is that I am not sure if a LOR from the Head of Design at a product-led organisation would be sufficient enough to meet the requirements of the person being a senior member. I keep hearing that the LORs must come from C-Suite execs.
Is this correct and can anyone please shed more light on this?

Also, i have only worked for one product-led organisation(all other experience is with agencies), but they are quite big in the fintech space, I have worked there for 2 years now and I have helped work on a lot of product features which have helped the company grow in-terms of user acquisition, retention and overall revenue. I got promoted within a year of joining the team and my salary is well over x2 the average salary paid to other designers in the country.

My plan is to show details of different products/product features I have worked on to backup OC1 and OC3, along with supporting letters and Amplitude(metrics)/revenue data. I also will show evidence of workshops I have hosted within the company as part of evidence to show proof of contribution(OC3)

One product is especially innovative as it is going to be launched in the US which is going to be a first. (I can’t really share details as of now)

I also plan to back the MC with volunteer work with at a non-profit to show that my reach extends past my 9-5, along with proof of high salary, supporting letter from CEO, and screenshots of the figma file to show the product i worked on.

Does any of this make sense, and would you say this is a reasonable application. Is there anything I should tweak or add?

Thank you!

Hi Oladapo, I think the letter of recommendation from your Head of Design works well. For my letter, I had a letter from a colleague I worked with who’s also a Global Talent. He’s not a C-suite individual, and it worked either way. I’ll only ensure this person knows your work for at least 12 months.

In terms of the other evidences, I think they look okay. I’d say list them out in the order you intend submitting so there’s more context. All the best!

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Thank you! Let me break down the documents according to how i plan on submitting it.

For MC

  1. Support letter from the CEO where I work, and amplitude data showing success of the onboarding flow I worked on. (we were able to reduce drop-off drastically)
  2. Salary information including my equity, employment contract and early promotion letter (to prove high salary - my salary is more than 2x the average and i also have equity).
  3. Evidence showing I worked and contributed to the success of a non-profit in the digital sector.
  4. Figma file showing onboarding screens I worked on with screenshot of editor trail(version history).

For OC1 How might we show innovation

  1. Employment contract.
  2. Innovative product Figma file, app store downloads/ratings and traction thru revenue.
  3. Innovative products domestic/international usage - data showing customer numbers in Nigeria and USA.

For OC3 How might we show technical contribution

  1. Letter from Head of product and Head of growth at company i work for, video/screenshot showing internal design workshop I hosted. (this is to show technical contribution)
  2. Figma file, design document and amplitude engagement data showing contribution
  3. Employment contract.

Note that all evidences are from the same company which I have worked for 2 years and got a promotion within 1 year of joining the team. All my other experiences are at agencies which do not count for the GTV.