The Department of State (“DOS”) published an update on the their efforts to tackle the visa backlogs that they have been faced with worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The DOS is committed to lowering visa interview wait times and optimistically reports embassies and consulates are “recovering faster than projected” and will return to pre-pandemic processing capacity this year.
Read moreUSCIS Once Again Extends Flexibility for Responding to Agency Requests
In response to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is continuing to extend the flexibilities it originally announced over two and a half years ago, on March 30, 2020. USCIS’ 60-day deadline extension policy for responses to various agency actions has been extended through January 24, 2023, to assist applicants, petitioners, and requestors who are responding to:
Requests for Evidence;
Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14);
Notices of Intent to Deny;
Notices of Intent to Revoke;
Notices of Intent to Rescind;
Notices of Intent to Terminate regional centers; and
Motions to Reopen an N-400 Pursuant to 8 CFR 335.5, Receipt of Derogatory Information After Grant.
We Are All Immigrants
A Child’s Perspective on Immigration Reform: “Until Someone Listens”
Having her family fall victim to the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which criminally prosecuted immigrants that crossed the US border without documentation and separated families as a consequence, Estela Juarez has written a children’s book with the help of Lissette Norman and illustrator Teresa Martin, titled “Until Someone Listens.” The book offers a personal account of Estela’s story of loss and lack of protection under our current immigration system, in the hopes that all who read will listen to the pressing need for immigration reform.
Read more"Ancestor" by Bharti Kher: Celebrating Light
As we prepare to celebrate Diwali, The Festival of Lights, observed by Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain faiths we look upon New Delhi and London based artist Bharti Kher’s creation “Ancestor”. The 18 feet tall, bronze sculpture currently welcoming all visitors at New York City’s Central Park entrance at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, at 60th Street and 5th Avenue celebrates the light within us all.
Read moreImmigrants Helping Florida Rebuild After Hurricane Ian Face Exploitation
Beatriz Milhazes at Chelsea’s Pace Gallery
New York City’s iconic Pace Gallery on West 25th street in Chelsea, founded by legendary art dealer Arne Glimcher, it is Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes’ moment. Marking her first solo show with the Pace Gallery, and her first solo show in New York City in 10 years, “Mistura Sagrada” exhibits the artist’s grand efforts in painting and sculpture. Roughly translated as “Holy Mixture,” Beatriz Milhazes’ talents span two floors of the monumental building. In a serene gallery on the second floor, Milhazes’ immense paintings (ranging from five to nine feet wide) brim with color and energy. Combining a sophisticated, almost Léger-esque interplay of shapes with deep pigments and textures which alternate between natural, artificial, and vernacular textures, the artist’s paintings are a feast for the eyes, whether from afar or up close (where the paintings exhibit a surprising chalkiness).
Read moreDiversity Visa Lottery for Fiscal Year 2024 (DV-2024)
It’s once again time for The Diversity Visa Lottery for fiscal year 2024 (“DV-2024”)! The online registration period for the DV-2024 began Wednesday, October 5, 2022, at 12:00 noon (EDT), and concludes on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, at 12:00 noon (EST). It is recommended that foreign nationals not wait until the end of the period to apply as heavy demand could cause delays on the website. Entries are only accepted electronically , they will not be accepted through the U.S. Postal Service. Keep in mind that submitting multiple applications will result in disqualification, not better chances, and yes, “the Department of State uses sophisticated technology to detect multiple entries.”
Read moreIndian Nationals Struggle with Visa Backlogs
"Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds" by Fred Wilson
Standing ten feet tall in Brooklyn’s Columbus Park, Fred Wilson’s large-scale public sculpture “Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds” demands the viewership and consideration of all who pass by. Not simply because of its size, but rather because of its meaning and placement: Columbus Park is lined with historical monuments and memorials, many of which are highly contested. Controversial due to their roles in slavery, anti-abolitionist work, and violent legacies of racism, historical figures like Christopher Columbus and Henry Ward Beecher stand erect in the park, with “Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds” existing in opposition to them as a site-responsive intervention. Five dark figures stand locked inside two boxes, a signifier evoking themes of detainment, incarceration, and structural racism. This sculpture is an essential contributor to dialogues surrounding both monuments and the politics of erasure and exclusion in public spaces, as well as mass incarceration of Black bodies in the United States, the work having been developed in collaboration with youth at the Center for Court Innovation, an alternative-to-incarceration program. Wilson’s work prompts us to question ideas of historical memory, ideas of significance, ideas of freedom, and of how we determine who is deserving of such statuses.