US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that they have reached the congressionally-mandated 65,000 H-1B visa cap for fiscal year 2019. They have also received a sufficient amount of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 limit for the master’s cap advanced degree exemption. While USCIS has not yet specified how many total H-1B cap cases have been received during this filing window, some experts are predicting overall lower numbers than in previous years.
Read moreNY Times: "Expelling Diplomats, a Furious Kremlin Escalates a Crisis”
In response to the US government’s expulsion of Russian diplomats from the United States and closure of the Russian Consulate in Seattle, Russia has responded by announcing the expulsion of sixty American diplomats along with envoys from other countries as well as the closing of the American Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. The crisis is the result of investigations into the March 4 poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Salisbury, England that showed Russia was likely responsible. The Consulate in St. Petersburg has been closed effective March 31, and the US Embassy in Russia notified Americans in the St. Petersburg consular district that they should contact the US Embassy in Moscow for all emergency assistance and routine services.
Read moreMy Immigration Story
Immigration has always been a central component to my family’s story, one that can be traced back through several generations. Although my grandparents, parents, and I were all born in Barranquilla, Colombia, my paternal great-grandparents were born in Bethlehem, Palestine. In the early 1900s, seeking better economic opportunities, they immigrated to the port city of Barranquilla, joining the large community of Christian Arabs living in the region. They, like the majority of people in this ethnic group, fully assimilated to Colombia. My grandfather was born there, later meeting my grandmother who is not Arabic, but instead, like many Colombians including my mother, is descended from a mix of European immigrants.
Read moreBloomberg: “U.S. to Seek Social Media Details From All Visa Applicants”
The State Department wants to require nearly all US visa applicants to provide social media username and account information, a move that would affect approximately 710,000 immigrant visa applicants and fourteen million nonimmigrant visa applicants. If these proposed changes published in the Federal Register are accepted after the sixty-day public comment period ends, the new requirements would ask for social media handles as well as prior email addresses and telephone numbers from the last five years when individuals apply to come to the US. This comes after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last year its intention to screen social media accounts of all immigrants, including Green Card holders and naturalized US citizens.
Read moreLuck
USCIS: Policy Memo on Multiple H-1B Filings for the Same Beneficiary by “Related Entities”
In time for the start of the H-1B cap filing period, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has released a policy memo addressing the prohibition on multiple H-1B filings for the same beneficiary by "related entities (such as a parent company, subsidiary, or affiliate).” The memo is based on the Administrative Appeals Office decision in the Matter of S- Inc. which addresses a case where two petitioners not legally related or controlled filed two separate cap-subject H-1B petitions on behalf of the same beneficiary in the same fiscal year for the beneficiary to work in substantially the same job for the same end-client through the same two vendors.
Read moreRainy Day H-1B Blues
H-1B cap season is drawing to a close, since the government will begin accepting H-1B cap cases on Monday, April 2. After months of working on so many H-1B petitions, Liz is sad to say goodbye. The rainy gloomy weather only makes her more sad. As her way of saying a fond farewell, and imparting that “extra something” to each case, she is hugging each and every case and wishing them the best of luck on their long, long journey to California or Vermont to find out if they will be picked in the H-1B cap lottery. Wish them all luck!!!
The Washington Post: “Perhaps tired of winning, the United States falls in World Happiness rankings – again”
The United States has fallen in the rankings of the World Happiness Report for the second year in a row. Currently, the US is ranked eighteenth out of more than 150 countries, making it the worst ranking since the annual report began being published in 2012. The report, published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), an initiative of the United Nations, measures levels of happiness and changes in happiness globally. This year, along with the usual rankings, the report focuses on migration within and between countries. “The most striking finding is the extent to which happiness of immigrants matches the locally born population,” John Helliwell, a University of British Columbia economist who co-edited the report, tells the Washington Post. “The happiest countries in the world also have the happiest immigrants in the world.”
Read moreFree Myself
The Last Three
The Last Three, the world’s largest rhino sculpture now installed at Astor Place in New York City, was created by artists Gillie & Marc as part of a global campaign to raise awareness about rhino conservation. These bronze sculptures depict the world's last three northern white rhinos, Sudan, Najim, and Fatu, although just this week Sudan, the male rhino aged forty-five, died from old age. Rhino horns are valued more than gold for their so-called medicinal purposes, and poaching has decimated their population. Visitors to Astor Place can have an interactive experience with the Goodbye Rhinos app, an "augmented reality platform" where users can watch rhinos roaming Astor Place, share rhino photos using the hashtag #goodbyerhinos, and leave a message. The Last Three will be at Astor Place until May 2018.