The New York Times: "Chinatown Revisited"

Bonnie Tsui, author of American Chinatown: A People's History of Five Neighborhoods, takes a short look at some of America's Chinatowns. The formula, she says, for a great Chinatown is four things: fish, dragons, smoke, and crowds:

Live fish mean that there are enough people buying to make the trouble of caring for the seafood worthwhile. The dragon eye — longan in Cantonese — is a strange fruit, a sweet, subtly fragrant exotic with coarse, sandpapery skin...As strange as it may seem, smoking is a strong cultural indicator that a Chinatown continues to serve a vibrant population of immigrants. A Chinese restaurant with a bunch of cooks smoking out back, or customers puffing while waiting for a table? Worth a try! It’s one that’s less likely to be Americanized...New immigrants mean a certain density and that prices aren’t too high. The more people, the better.

In this pieces she examines the Chinatowns in New York City (more traditional), Monterery Park, California (the "'Chinese Beverely Hills'"), Las Vegas (an "invented Chinatown mall experience that has come to be its own authentic creation."), and Austin, Texas (which is showing promising signs of development).

The Sydney Morning Herald: "Save the song and dance mate, we're Australians"

We already linked to English to English, The Guardian's excellent guide to translating between British and American English, and now in honor of Australia Day (January 26), here is columnist Richard Glover with a guide to Australian English:

1. Say the opposite of what you mean. If someone is tall, call them Shorty. If they have red hair, call them Bluey. If the food on offer at that Australia Day barbecue is the best you've ever eaten, describe it as "not bad"...

4. When helping someone out, downplay the effort involved. You may have just helped your friend carry a grand piano up 10 flights of stairs, but - when thanked - the correct response is to say: "Too easy". That's right - it wasn't just easy, it was too easy, as if, frankly, next time it would suit you better if there were two grand pianos involved and preferably 20 flights of stairs.

5. Learn the counterintuitive use of the word "bastard". In Australian English, someone you detest is a "bit of a bastard", while your best friend is "a total bastard".

NBC News: "Michigan to US: Give immigrants visas to help rebuild Detroit"

It is not uncommon for US businesses to request more visas for foreign workers (by increasing the H-1B cap allotment, for example), but not as common for a Republican governor to do so. But Michigan Governor Rick Snyder did just that, calling for the US Government to allocate 50,000 employment-based visas for skilled immigrants and entrepreneurs during the next five years for the city of Detroit. As the governor's fact sheet states: "The visas would seek to attract highly-skilled, entrepreneurial, legal immigrants who commit to living and working in Detroit, thereby contributing to its economic and population growth." NBC News reports:

There is no precedent for special visas to be issued for a specific geographic area, Snyder said. But he compared the program to a current one that grants visas to physicians who agree to work in under-served areas. 

The Governor's immigration plan announcement is below.

Protima Daryanani: The DLG-Proust-Actors Studio Questionnaire*

Protima Daryanani was born in Lagos, Nigeria, where she lived for eight years. Military coups and changing politics in Nigeria led to the family moving to London. Growing up as an Indian in England, she learned to pick the best of each culture: an emphasis on family and tradition and a love of British “puddings!" Her travels to see family in India and the US and proximity to mainland Europe instilled a life-long wanderlust. “We used to come to the US to visit my cousins,” she says. “I just had a sense that this was the place I was meant to be.” Protima attended Brown University in Providence and law school at Emory University in Georgia, where she “ grew to love a grit.”

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Immigration Impact: "Can We Really Deport Justin Bieber for That?"

Immigration Impact asks an important question regarding the Canadian pop singer (as does USA Today). He is alleged to have egged his neighbor's California home, causing damages of approximately $20,000, which would make the alleged vandalism a felony.

Your average immigrant could be deported for such offenses or even less dramatic ones, as 68 percent of legal immigrants (including permanent residents) are deported for minor, non-violent crimes. And there is no statute of limitation in the immigration laws. Immigrants can be put into deportation proceedings for crimes committed years—even decades—earlier.

The possibility of deportation may not phase Bieber, since he could return to his Canadian homeland, which, as he says, is "best country in the world" because: "We go to the doctor and we don't need to worry about paying him, but here [United States], your whole life, you're broke because of medical bills."

UPDATE: CNN reports that Bieber was arrested and charged with drunken driving, resisting arrest, and driving without a valid license in Miami Beach early this morning, after police allegedly saw him street-racing in a residential neighborhood. My colleague Matthew Bray has explained the often serious immigration consequences of alcohol-related driving incidents, and The LA Times reports Bieber "could be at risk of becoming one of the highest-profile immigrants to ever get kicked out of the U.S. if he isn't careful..."

DS-160 IDIOSYNCRASIES

The DS-160 is an online form submitted to the US Department of State as part of a nonimmigrant visa application for temporary travel and work in the United States. At the consular stage of the nonimmigrant visa process, applicants must submit a completed DS-160 for all nonimmigrant visa categories, including applicants applying for K visas (additional information about the consular process can be found in my prior post). Consular Officers at US Embassies/Consulates worldwide use the information entered in the DS-160 to process the visa application and, along with other required documentation and a personal interview (with some exceptions), use this form to determine an applicant’s eligibility for a nonimmigrant visa.

The DS-160 focuses on the foreign national’s biographic data as well as schooling, work, and travel history. Since 2010 this form must be completed and submitted electronically. The main items needed to fill in the fields of the DS-160 are the passport (for biographic information and number, any prior visas, and reference to past international travel), the I-797 Approval Notice from USCIS (if applicable), any related documentation (such as SEVIS information if the applicant was a student in the US) and, importantly, a digital passport-style photo ready to upload (the specifications for this photo are exact, and can be found here). Some US Embassies/Consulates require foreign nationals to complete the DS-160 prior to scheduling a visa interview; others merely require that it be completed and submitted forty-eight hours prior to the interview date.

This post addresses frequently encountered idiosyncrasies and common questions when filling out the DS-160. It is important to note that the DS-160 is often updated and the questions included on the form may change, or new questions may be added without notice. Therefore it is important to check the US Embassy/Consulate website for the latest updates before commencing the form.

I have dual nationality, so I have more than one passport. Which passport should I use for the DS-160?
Except when applicants are applying for a visa where country of nationality can determine eligibility for a visa (e.g. Australians and the E-3 visa), foreign nationals should use the information from the passport they intend to have the US visa processed into to fill in the DS-160.

Can I answer the DS-160 questions in my native language?
No. All answers must be in English, using English characters only. The only part of the DS-160 that is an exception to this rule is where foreign nationals are asked to provide their full name in their native alphabet. DS-160s submitted in any language other than English will be denied and the applicant may be required to submit a new application.

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No Pants Subway Ride 2014

There are enormous and serious issues that divide and separate people and countries all over the world (regarding not only immigration but wars, terrorism, and poverty, among others). Yesterday, however, the world took a deep breath and was brought a little bit closer together (I like to think) by an important event: the annual No Pants Subway Ride. Originally started in New York City by Improv Everywhere "as a small prank with seven guys," the pant-less tradition has spread globally to sixty cities and twenty-five countries with over tens of thousands of participants. The premise is pretty simple: "Random passengers board a subway car at separate stops in the middle of winter without pants. The participants do not behave as if they know each other, and they all wear winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. The only unusual thing is their lack of pants." RT reports here, CNN has a slideshow, and the Aussies also got into the action. As did Bangalore, Bejing, Hong Kong, Kiev, and Mexico City, among others. Improv Everywhere's video of the NYC ride is below. Enjoy and let there be world peace.