Consistent with the Biden Administration’s Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government by improving the customer experience, on October 8, 2024, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) introduced an electronic PDF filing option for certain I-765 Employment Authorization Document (“EAD”) applicants via their personal USCIS online accounts. Eligible applicants may file Requests for Fee Waiver, Form I-912 in PDF format as well, which marks the first time fee waiver requests can be filed online.
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A New Friend
Our last Friday Photo series showcased flowers; our new installation puts pigeons at the forefront. We begin with our chubby feathered friend, a grounded fowl who lives in London. This happy pigeon can be found wandering around on foot by Buckingham Palace, as flying is not aerodynamically possible for the little guy. He makes the best of it and enjoys all the snacks the residents share. Stay tuned next week as our pigeons get bigger…
New Policy Guidance for Extraordinary Ability Immigrant Applications
Is it easier to get a green card as a person of extraordinary ability given changes in United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) policy announced on October 2, 2024? The short but lawyerly answer is maybe. What is certain is that the new updates to the USCIS Policy Manual provided clarifications on the types of evidence that may be used to demonstrate eligibility for the extraordinary ability (E11) classification under the EB-1 immigrant visa. The EB-1 visa, specifically the E11 category, is an immigration pathway for individuals with extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, education, business, or athletics. To qualify, applicants must demonstrate that they have reached the top of their field, with sustained national or international acclaim.
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Women’s Book Battles
The New York Historical Society is currently showcasing “Circulating Control: Women's Book Battles, 1880-1930,” which explores the influence of New York City’s first librarians – women. In the late 1870s, women in New York started the New York Free Circulating Library, creating the largest network of literature in the city. By managing and keeping this library system, these women naturally began influencing and mediating the kinds of books New Yorkers had had access to.
In the nineteenth century, Christian reformers targeted these efforts, attempting to censor books and publications they saw as immoral. However, the women who ran these libraries resisted control, and still found ways to circulate literature on controversial topics of the time. The exhibit highlights how censorship often sparks greater public support for the ideas censors seek to suppress, a trend we still see to this day.
Visitors can explore preserved texts, photographs, and relics from New York City’s first librarians through November 30, 2025.
American Dirt
“Graft” by Edra Soto
Welcoming visitors at the Fifth Avenue entrance to Central Park stands a new sculpture, “Graft” by Puerto Rican artist Edra Soto. “Graft” is part of a series of installations by Ms. Soto that brings to life the exploration of the relationship between our private lives and what we choose to share with the world. The four screens are sculpted out of corten steel and terrazzo, which are inspired by rejas, or iron screens commonly seen outside of homes in Puerto Rico. The rejas replicate geometric patterns that may be traced back to West Africa’s symbol systems known as Yoruba and pay homage to the island’s Black heritage which is often overlooked by Puerto Rico’s Spanish Colonial history and architecture.
Visitors can stand on the outside of the sculpture, peering across towards the park, or on the inside, where they are invited to sit at tables and seating that mirror the welcoming interior of a home in Puerto Rico. By welcoming us inside, Soto invites New Yorkers to connect to Puerto Rico and its communities across the city.
Diversity Visa Lottery for Fiscal Year 2026 (DV-2026)
It’s that time of year again! The Diversity Visa Lottery for fiscal year 2026 (“DV-2026”) is live and has begun accepting registrations effective Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at 12:00 noon (EDT). The registration period for the DV Lottery, as it’s commonly referred to, concludes on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 at 12:00 noon (EST). Entries are only accepted electronically--paper entries through the US Postal Service will not be accepted. Keep in mind that the “law allows only one entry per person during each registration period.” Submitting multiple applications will result in disqualification, not better odds, and, yes, “the Department of State uses sophisticated technology to detect multiple entries.” 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.
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