Human Structures is a sculpture outside Penn Station by artist Jonathan Borofsky. Located off Plaza 33, a pedestrian-friendly area on West 33rd Street that has been closed off to traffic, the artwork has a lofty meaning: “It’s humanity connecting together to build our world,” says the artist, who also encourages people to stand inside the sculpture to become part of it. I took his recommendation and did stand inside (unfortunately, no photos of that). Go humanity!
Human Structures
H-1B Cap Reached for Fiscal Year 2018
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that they have reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa cap numbers for fiscal year 2018. Additionally, USCIS has also received a sufficient number of filed H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 US advanced degree exemption numbers, also known as the master’s cap. The agency will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that are not duplicate filings. The agency did not specify when the H-1B lottery would occur, but in previous years it typically happens within a few weeks of the filing period being closed.
Read moreState of Exception/Estado de Excepción
Since 2000 over 6,000 migrants have died trying to cross the US-Mexico border. State of Exception/Estado de Excepción, an exhibit at the Parsons School of Design, uses discarded and found objects including clothing, prayer cards, and backpacks to pay homage to those who have lost their lives as well as those who survived the dangerous journey across the border. The materials were collected as part of a research project (called “Undocumented Migration”) by University of Michigan anthropologist Jason De León. He views the “materials as fragments of a history, revealing death, trauma, and suffering on both sides of the border while bringing to light complexities of the migrant experience.”
Read moreNew York Times: “Visa Applications Pour In by Truckload Before Door Slams Shut”
Yesterday, Monday, April 3, was the first day that US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting H-1B specialized knowledge cap petitions for fiscal year 2018. At the USCIS California Service Center in Laguna Niguel, delivery trucks carrying H-1B petitions began arriving at dawn. While the official USCIS count of total petitions received won’t be released for at least a few weeks, many immigration experts are predicting more H-1B petitions will be filed than in the previous years because many are concerned of possible changes to the H-1B program under the Trump administration. For the last few years, USCIS has received so many petitions that they’ve closed the filing period after only one week. Last year USCIS received over 236,000 H-1B petitions in the filing period.
Read moreAddicted to the Future
H-1B Cap Season: A Minute of Liz's Work Day!
As those in the immigration world know, we are deep into H-1B cap season. Since we can start sending cap cases today for delivery on Monday, April 3, our office is a whirlwind of activity. And no one is more of a whirlwind than our Lizzie B! Although she is fast, we managed to record a minute of one of her days this week. She has so many papers to sign! And people to talk to! And food to taste! Wow, look at her go!
Lesser Known Paths to Permanent Residency
“How do I get a Green Card” is one of the most common questions attorneys at our law firm receive. And while it may be a surprise to many that a Green Card (that is, permanent residency in the US) is not right for everyone nevertheless people are always keen on obtaining one, especially if they have spent a few years in the US. There are generally two paths to permanent residency—via employment or family. But those aren’t exactly the only ways, and we thought it would be interesting to explore several of the lesser-known paths to that coveted Green Card.
Read moreSan Francisco Chronicle: “H-1B visa worries won’t slow applications, experts say”
Beginning next week on April 3 (since April 1 is a Saturday), immigration practitioners and petitioners will be able to file new H-1B petitions for those who have never had H-1Bs, commonly referred to as “cap cases.” Amid the uncertainty over whether President Trump plans to makes dramatic changes to the H-1B program, immigration experts anticipate another record-breaking year of petitions. While some immigration practitioners attribute the expected high amount of petitions to the strong economy and high demand for specialized knowledge positions in hubs such as Silicon Valley, others believe this may be their last shot for an H-1B before it is overhauled. “There are a lot of companies that are saying, ‘Hey, this is my only opportunity to get in under the current H-1B situation,’ because everyone is expecting a change,” Marcine Seid, an immigration attorney in Palo Alto, tells the San Francisco Chronicle. “And they don’t expect it to be for the better.”
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