Following up on its March 27, 2023 announcement that it had received enough initial registrations for the Fiscal Year 2024 (“FY24”) H-1B Cap, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has released data about the number of registrations received for the visa lottery. USCIS received a record breaking 780,884 H-1B registrations during the three week registration period. Of these over 780 thousand registrations, USCIS determined 758,994 were eligible registrations. This figure excludes duplicate registrations, those with failed payments, and those that were deleted by prospective employers prior to the closing of the registration period. The number of registrations for FY24 mark a sixty-one percent increase from 474,421 eligible registrations received for FY23. This significant increase has raised “serious concerns” and USCIS has begun to investigate potential employers who may have worked together to submit multiple registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary to increase their chance of being selected in the H-1B lottery.
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COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for International Travelers to End May 11, 2023
As of May 12, 2023, international air travelers will no longer be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the US by air. The Biden Administration will also end the vaccine requirements for Federal employees and Federal contractors, on the same day which coincides with the end of the public health emergency. The vaccine requirements have been in place since November 2021 when the US government lifted the travel bans instituted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to help ease the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Biden Administration is ending the international air travel COVID vaccine requirement “at the end of the day” on May 11, 2023.
Read more“Making Sense” by Ai Weiwei
A modern-day Renaissance Man, Ai Weiwei, the renowned artist, activist, filmmaker, architect and collector, has collaborated with The Design Museum in London, to present “Making Sense” as “a commentary on design and what it reveals about our changing values.” The artist’s collection of objects, ranging from Stone Age tools to porcelain dating back to the Song dynasty, to iPhones and Lego bricks to recreate Monet’s Water Lilies, explore our material culture and tensions between construction and destruction as well as industrialism and craftsmanship. “Making Sense” of the dichotomy of consumption and the repression of the individual, Weiwei challenges us to make sense of our own values and the repression of the individual, all the while giving the middle finger to landmarks known as sites of power around the world.
CBP Stampless Entry and Electronic I-94s
In an effort to increase efficiency and streamline the admissions process, US Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has simplified entry into the United States by instituting an automated I-94 process for most nonimmigrants arriving by air and sea. What began as a pilot program in certain ports of entry in April 2022, has become standard procedure across all US ports of entry.
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“Operation Golden Orb”
Saturday, May 6th, 2023, will mark King Charles III’s Coronation. Although Charles became King the moment his mother, Queen Elizabeth II died, this coronation is a celebration and the formal investiture of Charles with his regal powers. Rooted in pageantry and traditions dating back a thousand years, “Operation Golden Orb” as the Coronation is aptly code-named, has been in the works for months and London is getting ready for its close up as the ceremony will be televised throughout world. Preparations have sprouted up along The Mall leading to the King’s residence at Buckingham Palace and as if on cue blossoms have filled St. James’ Park.
Financial Times: “Immigration is back in the US”
According to a recent article by Tana Foroohar in the Financial Times “Immigration is back in the US.” Ms. Foroohar, a Global Business Columnist and an Associate Editor at Financial Times (“FT”) takes note that the country is returning to “pre-Trump, pre-pandemic rates of immigration” which is wonderful to news to fight inflation and promote economic and labor force growth. Ms. Foroohar’s research points to a 2020 paper by the Dallas Fed which notes that “the future of American growth exceptionalism (relative to Europe and other rich countries) may be largely down to the future of immigration.”
Read moreUndocumented Immigrants Also Paid Their Taxes
April 18th marked Tax Day for citizens of US, but did you know that undocumented immigrants also pay taxes? According to the American Immigration Council undocumented immigrants are paying billions of dollars each year in taxes. In spite of their undocumented status, and lack of standing in our country, “these immigrants—and their family members—are adding value to the U.S. economy, not only as taxpayers, but as workers, consumers, and entrepreneurs as well.” Millions of people who lack social security numbers are filing taxes with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (“ITIN”).
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