US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), under the direction of the Trump administration, proposed a number of key immigration changes in 2018 and 2019, some of which are likely to go into effect this year. These changes, many designed to slow or complicate legal immigration, could have a significant impact on the lives of millions of immigrants in the US. Here are some changes to look out for in 2020:
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Impulse
Impulse is an interactive art installation made of twelve oversized seesaws that transform the Broadway pedestrian plazas into an urban playground. When visitors to the seesaws climb on top and move them, the seesaws glow with light and emit randomized musical sounds. Located on Broadway in the Garment District between 37th and 38th Streets, Impulse was created by Lateral Office and CS Design in collaboration with EGP Group, and first presented as part of the winter Luminothérapie light festival in Montreal. When we visited the installation over lunchtime this week, we heard a lot of happy shouts, laughter, and the sound of general merriment on the seesaws. Creos, the tour producer of the installation, says the seesaws embody “ideas of serialism, repetition, and variation to produce zones of intensity and calm” and they “animate the public space and its occupants during the cold and dreary winter.” That much is certainly true. The seesaws are on display through January 31.
US State Department Significantly Increases Reciprocity Fees for Australian Nationals in Certain Visa Categories
Effective December 23, 2019, the Department of State (DOS) adjusted the reciprocity schedule for Australia for certain nonimmigrant visa categories. This change in the reciprocity schedule is a result of Executive Order 13780 (“Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”), signed by President Trump in March 2017, that required the DOS to undertake a worldwide review of nonimmigrant visa reciprocity agreements and arrangements to ensure that US nationals receive “reciprocal treatment in terms of validities and fees as that afforded to host country nationals, as required by US law.”
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Happy Holidays!
It’s the end of another (long) year, and time to take a little vacation. To that end, our blog and social media will be on holiday break for the rest of the year, and we will begin posting again in January 2020. Our staff will also be taking some holiday too—our office will close early at 2:30pm on December 24, and the office will be closed on December 25, 26, and 27, reopening Monday, December 30. We will also be closed on January 1. Whether you’re able to sneak away for a few days to a warm and sunny beach or will cozy up in a nook inside to escape those cold temperatures outside, we wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year!
Radical When It Shouldn't Be
DLG Holiday Party 2019
We held our annual holiday party at the Institute of Culinary Education (aka ICE, but not to be confused with the other ICE) in downtown Manhattan again this year, and the results were as fun and delicious as always. As before, we chose a seasonal menu and divided up into groups to work at three different food stations to make the appetizer, main dish, and dessert. Although a few of us were skeptical to begin with (ahem, Alexis on the far right), enabled by the pink champagne, we quickly become experts in our chosen specialty, (see Alexis presenting the cooked fish and Tommy inspecting the group’s efforts,) resulting in a memorable meal. We are truly talented cooks. Okay, we also had some (very) valuable help from Chef Phil Hering and his skilled team. Happy holidays, everyone!
5 Things to Remember Before You Travel Internationally this Holiday Season
As the holidays approach doesn’t it seem as if things are moving at warp speed? If you are like me, you have several lists going: work projects to finish before the end of the year, gifts to purchase, cards to send, things to pack, and more! As we have in prior years, we thought it would be helpful to give foreign nationals who are traveling internationally one additional list (sorry) to ensure all goes as smoothly as possible and that you can enjoy the holiday season without being overly worried about immigration status and visa stamps. Now that we’ve made this list, make sure you check it twice (as the song says)!
Read moreUSCIS Announces Implementation of H-1B Electronic Registration Process for Fiscal Year 2021 Cap Season with Registration Beginning March 1, 2020
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced last week that they have completed a successful pilot testing phase and are implementing the electronic registration process for the H-1B lottery for the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2021 cap season. Petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for the FY 2021 cap, including those filing advanced degree master’s cap cases, must first electronically register and pay the previously announced $10 H-1B registration fee. In a press release, USCIS states that they believe the electronic registration process will “dramatically streamline processing by reducing paperwork and data exchange, and will provide an overall cost savings to petitioning employers.”
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