US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that starting April 2, 2018, the first day that H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 cap cases can be received, USCIS will temporarily suspend premium processing for all cap-subject petitions, including master’s cap exemption cases. This suspension, likely to frustrate many immigration practitioners and petitioners, is expected to last until September 10, 2018. Last year, USCIS temporarily suspended premium processing for all cap and non-cap subject H-1B petitions and resumed it in stages over a six month time period.
Read moreFast Company: “How, Why, And When To Share Your Immigration Status On Job Interviews”
In the current political environment, as politicians and government officials debate the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the H-1B visa, and whether to switch to a “merit-based” immigration system, many immigrants may be afraid to discuss their immigration status with potential employers. Although Ximena Hartsock, an immigrant from Chile and business owner, encourages immigrants to use discretion when talking about their immigration status, at the same time she believes they should “own their immigrant experiences with pride.” Writing in Fast Company, she provides tips for immigrants to navigate the interview process.
Read moreNeither There Nor Here
Happy St. Patrick's Day from the American Irish Historical Society
In honor of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, earlier this week I visited the American Irish Historical Society, located on 5th Avenue in the Upper East Side. Continuously operated since 1897, the society is dedicated to promoting and preserving Irish culture and knowledge. The society hosts special exhibits, cultural events, and has a research library with over 14,000 volumes. Highlights of the society's permanent collection include one of the original copies of the famous "Irish Proclamation" from the Easter Rising in 1916, as well as this bust (above) of Dr. William James MacNeven, a prominent Irish-American doctor and revolutionary who immigrated to the United States in 1805 after having failed to convince the French to help free Ireland. The society offers tours at 11am and 3pm from Monday through Friday. But no free Guinness on the tours. (Sorry, obligated to mention Guinness in any post about St. Patrick's Day.) Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!
USCIS: H-1B Third-Party Worksites Memo
Last month, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) released a memo with guidance for H-1B petitions where the beneficiary will work at one or more third-party work sites. While many H-1B holders perform their work at the petitioner’s main address or at one of the petitioner’s locations, in certain cases the employee may work at one or more third-party worksites and perform their work for clients of the petitioner.
Read moreNation of Immigrants
An Incomplete History of Protest
Constitution III by Mark Bradford
An Incomplete History of Protest, an ongoing exhibition at the Whitney Museum, examines how artists from the 1940s to the present have reacted to and protested the political and social issues of their time. Whether by protesting the Vietnam War or combating the AIDS crisis or fighting for civil rights or representation, the featured artists in the exhibit "see their work as essential to challenging established thought and creating a more equitable culture." Mark Bradford's Constitution III (above) looks at first like an abstract painting, but it contains excerpts from the US Constitution. The text along with the rough surface suggest the founding document is living, "subject to modification and debate." Overall, the exhibit shows how the artists attempted to "play a profound role in transforming their time and shaping the future."
USCIS: Re-Registration Period Opens for Syrians with Temporary Protected Status
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week that current beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under Syria’s designation who want to maintain their status through September 30, 2019, must re-register between March 5, and May 4, 2018. The procedures for re-registration, including how to renew employment authorization documentation, have been published in the Federal Register and on the USCIS website. To re-register, all applicants must submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status; additionally, applicants may also request (at the same time or later) an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) by submitting a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. Both of these forms are free on USCIS’ website at uscis.gov/tps.
Read moreVox: "March 5 is supposed to be the DACA 'deadline.' Here’s what that means for immigrants."
Last September, President Trump announced the termination of the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and gave March 5, 2018, as the deadline for Congress to find a legislative solution for the approximately 700,000 DACA recipients. This March 5 deadline arrived this week just after the Supreme Court declined to hear the administration’s appeal of a federal judge's injunction that halted Trump's decision to terminate the DACA program. Currently, because of the recent court injunctions and the actions of the Supreme Court and despite the March 5 deadline, USCIS is accepting DACA renewals only and operating the DACA program on the “terms in place before it was rescinded on Sept. 5, 2017, until further notice.”
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