F/W 2014 London, Milan, and Paris

British Vogue captures London Fashion Week's "excitement, colour and fabulous style" in a six minute film featuring Tom Ford, Erdem, and Alice Temperley, among many others. Fashionista looks at the ten top trends from London, including a "new crop of London collections that were so unapologetically good at being bad, we couldn’t help but take notice. Oil-slick finishes, cobwebby crochets, and hardcore studs were totally unstoppable." Plus "the season’s breakout must-have, the slip dress[.]"

In Milan "Roberto Cavalli transformed the Cavalli woman into a scorching goddess of strength and fantasy" which means of course that the models walked around a ring of fire. Dazed has the other highlights: drones over the Fendi catwalk, Miuccia Prada's sensual layers, and a magical forest created by Dolce & Gabbana. 

Valentino in Paris was "calf-length skirts, handkerchief hems, knee-length boots, Little Red Riding Hood capes, crazy coats, skirts’n’sweaters, polo-necks, blanket coats, sensible handbags." Also Rihanna. Lots of Rihanna.

Special Considerations for Film and Television Visas

As awards season wraps up, the glitz and glamour of the film and TV industry will once again be replaced by the daily grind of producers, directors, editors, costumers, writers, set designers, and the countless other crew members working behind-the-scenes of the on-air talent to bring the productions that entertain us to life. As such, there is perhaps no better time to discuss certain considerations to keep in mind when planning a shoot with foreign talent or foreign production crew members in the United States. While these issues are not unique to film and TV immigration cases, they do present themselves more acutely in this context. Given the tight turnaround times and often last minute nature of the film and TV production industry, it is important to plan ahead as much as possible and pay special attention to certain issues that may come up during the process when filing petitions with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and when applying for visa stamps at a US Embassy or Consulate abroad.

Documentaries or News Shoots
As we also discussed in a previous post (with a helpful chart even), the I visa is a non-immigrant visa for representatives of a foreign media organization who are temporarily traveling to the US to engage in their profession. Generally, only those whose activities are associated with journalism, the news-gathering process, or informational documentaries may qualify for I visa classification. The I visa should not be used for commercial or entertainment programming, including reality entertainment shows, scripted programs, the filming of staged or recreated events, or documentary dramas.

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CSM: "No Supreme Court review for local laws against harboring illegal immigrants"

The Supreme Court has decided not to hear two cases regarding local laws aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from obtaining housing and jobs, instead letting stand the appeals court decisions blocking such laws. The two cases originated from local ordinances passed in Hazelton, PA and Farmers Branch, Texas. In striking down the Hazelton ordinances, which would have penalized anyone who rented or employed undocumented immigrants, the appeals court stated "both measures impermissibly intrude on the efforts of the federal government to decide how best to regulate immigration and illegal immigrants," which the Supreme Court is apparently agreeing with, though they did not comment.

Lehigh Valley's newspaper The Morning Call noted:

Both cases centered on the contentious question of how much authority local governments have to police immigration matters that have traditionally been handled by the federal government. The court's actions don't resolve the national uncertainty about local regulation of enforcement matters.

Still pending before the Supreme Court is a request for an appeal by property owners and immigrant rights groups in Nebraska, where the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the city of Freemont's law penalizing landlords who rent to undocumented immigrants.

Congressman Lou Barletta, Hazelton's mayor when the ordinances were passed, said there needs to be national legislation specifying how local governments can enforce immigration law:

"Simply put, if Hazleton were in Nebraska instead of Pennsylvania, the city would be able to enforce its law...But for the unfortunate fact of geography, the law of the land in the Midwest is deemed unconstitutional in Pennsylvania."

Meanwhile the city of Freemont, Nebraska was reportedly set to enact their law this month.

SWI: "Crowd shows solidarity ‘for an open Switzerland’"

More than 10,000 Swiss held a rally for immigrant rights outside the parliament in Bern, nearly a month after Swiss voters passed a measure to limit immigrants to the country. With banners such as "Switzerland without foreigners is like Swiss chocolate without cacao," the rally was supported by Greens, the Social Democrats, and union and foreigner associations, among others.

The repercussions of the Swiss vote has already been felt by the Croatians, as Switzerland will not be able to sign a labor pact with the European Union's newest member, and the vote could have potentially serious business ramifications in Switzerland if companies are limited in hiring foreign employees. The vote moreover could affect Swiss participation in the popular Erasmus program. NPR also has an informative roundup of articles.

Hard Times on the Lower East Side

When people ask what made me become an immigration attorney, it’s difficult to give one reason since I can usually think up a number of influences. But one of these influences was a trip I took as a teenager to The Tenement Museum in New York’s Lower East Side. It was an exceptionally hot August weekend when my mom, aunt, and I took the train to the City for the day. It wasn’t a day that I particularly wanted to be traipsing around tiny tenement apartments—but that’s just what made it so meaningful. We felt in some way how it really would have been one hundred years ago to live in such conditions. As my own ancestors came to the US during the end of the 19th century during the pogroms in Eastern Europe, I could better appreciate what their life may have been like upon arriving in America. I recently had the pleasure to re-visit the museum (on a much cooler day, I’m happy to say), and I can report that the experience is still very worthwhile.

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And the Oscar goes to…

JACKI: As the two-time champ of the annual D&B Oscar Pool, it should come as no surprise that I have been asked to help write the first ever Oscar predictions blog post (sarcasm heavily implied). That said, I have no formal film training whatsoever--I’m just an avid filmgoer who intends to pull off the never-before-achieved D&B Oscar Pool three-peat.

JEN: I am a relative newbie to the shark-infested waters of the D&B Oscar Pool. Having studied film and television as an undergraduate, I have the makings of a winner, but my penchant for voting with my heart often ruins my chances at victory. I am determined to block Jacki’s “three-peat” (and stop all this office trash-talk) this year.  

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New York F/W Fashion Week Report

Twice a year, in February and September, New York City hosts Fashion Week: an eight-day long fashion extravaganza. According to The New York Times, New York Fashion Week presents approximately 320 shows and hauls in over $860 million for the City (more than the US Open, the marathon, or Super Bowl). Fashion Week is the culmination of months of work for not only designers, but also for many other artists and contributors, including supremely talented producers, hairstylists, makeup artists, nail artists, fashion stylists, set designers, DJs, and models, all helping to make these shows works of art. We always love an invite to a show whether for our clients or designers we admire. For buyers and editors the shows mark the beginning of their work for the next season, but luckily for us we can sit back and enjoy the shows solely for their fashion and artistic merits.

I attended two shows: the Jill Stuart show, held in the Tents at Lincoln Center, and the Marc Jacobs show at the Armory. I also watched MADE Fashion Week at Milk Studios from afar (okay, from our offices across the street).

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DOMA and Same-Sex Marriages Q&A

Last week my colleague Matt Bray described the history of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and background to the Windsor decision overturning DOMA. As a followup to that post and also inspired by the helpful Q&A on the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) website, this post aims to provide some practical answers to commonly asked immigration-related questions in the aftermath of the decision.

Given the previous record of treatment by the US government and USCIS, some same-sex couples are understandably cautious about moving forward. That said, the US government has made it clear that same-sex married couples can (and should) expect equal treatment under the law. Practically, though, what does that mean?

My partner and I have entered into a civil union. Is that the same as a marriage for immigration purposes?
No. Only legal marriages are considered for immigration purposes. For the marriage to be legal, the marriage must have taken place in a jurisdiction (i.e., a US state or foreign country) where same-sex marriage is legal.

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