ISSS News 17 August 2009

An electronic news service for international students and scholars, owned by the Office of International Student and Scholar Services at Binghamton University, State University of New York

Editor’s Note: Have you changed your address? Report your new US address to the Office of International Student and Scholar Services and fulfill your federal SEVIS responsibilities at the same time. Visit the following web link: http://isss.binghamton.edu/forms/addrChange.html

Next Monday, August 24 will be the first day of new international student orientation. The Office of International Student and Scholar Services thanks the many students who have assisted our new arrivals. International Student Orientation check-in will be in the University Union Old Union Hall from 10:00am to 2:30pm on August 24. There are different orientation schedules for graduate students, undergraduate students, exchange students and Dual Diploma students from Turkey. All of the orientation schedules except for the DDP students are now posted. They can be viewed at:
Graduate Student Schedule:
http://isss.binghamton.edu/orientation/fall/undergrad/program.htm
Undergraduate Student Schedule: http://isss.binghamton.edu/orientation/fall/graduate/program.htm
Exchange Student Schedule:
http://isss.binghamton.edu/orientation/fall/ugexchange/program.htm

The orientation program features special presentations on the immigration regulations that all new students are required to know. We wish our new students "welcome" and much success with their academic program.

Although Orientation is still a week away, many new international students have begun to arrive on campus. If you happen to meet a new student, please be sure to direct them to the office of International Student and Scholar Services. Although ISSS will not be photocopying visa documents until Orientation, ISSS is recording new student arrivals and distributing their very helpful early arrival information sheet. ISSS looks forward to welcoming another large entering class of new international students this Fall!

Karen Keefe-Guzikowski and Amelia Shafer of the ISSS staff are involved in orientation preparation and training activities this week and next. As a result, the usual Tuesday afternoon 1:30pm to 3:15pm walk-in hours for employment questions are suspended until Tuesday, September 1.

University summer office hours of 8:00a.m.-4:00p.m. will end at the close of business on Friday, August 21, 2009. The University will return to the core office hours of 8:30a.m.-5:00p.m. on Monday, August 24, 2009. Please note that many offices, including International Student and Scholar Services post different service hours for the public.

The Office of International Student and Scholar Services will be open for regular office hours throughout the week of August 24. However, most staff will be away from the office during much of the week, participating in various New Student Orientation activities.

This means that obtaining appointments, document processing and responses to e-mails may take somewhat longer than usual while staff takes care of the newest class of international students. ISSS thanks you for your patience and understanding!

5. Country Music’s Rising Star, Chuck Wicks, To Perform At The Anderson Center Thursday, September 3

On Thursday, September 3 at 8 p.m., Chuck Wicks will appear live at the Anderson Center’s Osterhout Concert Theater. Wicks first took the country music world by storm with his Top 5 debut single, “Stealing Cinderella”, and his Top 15 follow-up hit, “All I Ever Wanted”. He then earned a whole new audience of fans when he appeared as a celebrity contestant paired with real-life girlfriend Julianne Hough on the ABC mega-hit Dancing with the Stars.

Opening for Chuck Wicks will be Republic Records’ debut artist Fast Ryde.
Inside reserved tickets: General public $25; Students $15
Lawn tickets: General Public $12.50; Students $7.50
For tickets and information, call (607) 777-ARTS or visit http://www.anderson.binghamton.edu

This performance is sponsored, in part, by 98.1 FM The Hawk and NewsChannel 34.

Approximately 44,900 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

USCIS reported the same number of petitions being filed on July 24, 2009. Thus, there has been little forward movement in a two-week period. For the first time in several years, it is likely that USCIS will still accept H-1B petitions on the start date of the 2010 U.S. federal fiscal year, which is October 1, 2009. The economic downturn and new procedures for processing H-1B petitions have had a significant effect on H-1B processing.

In previous years, so many petitions were filed on the opening date of file processing, April 1, that the UCIS had to use a random lottery system to determine which applications would be processed first. For example, for the 2008 and 2009 federal fiscal years, the H-1B cap was reached within the first few days of processing of the April 1 start date. For the 2007 fiscal year, the cap was reached on May 26, 2006. For the 2006 fiscal year, the cap was reached on July 26, 2005. For the 2005 fiscal year, the cap was reached on August 10, 2004. One has to go back to the 2004 fiscal year to find the last time when the cap was reached on October 1.

USCIS will provide regular updates on the processing of FY2010 H-1B petitions. The updates can be found on the USCIS’ Web site at www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count

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