ISSS News 06 July 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: Monday, July 6 is the first day of Term II of the Summer Session. OCC busses resume their normal operating schedule today.

ISSS staff will be unavailable on Tuesday, July 7 from 1:30pm to 3:00pm while they attend a planning meeting. They apologize for the inconvenience.

2. Fall 2009 International Student Orientation - Leadership Volunteers Needed

Are you interested in helping new international students during Orientation and adding Leadership and U.S. Culture Training experience to your resume? There is still time to sign up to be a Leadership Volunteer! The application form is available at:
http://isss.binghamton.edu/orientation/fall/LVapp.pdf Just fill it out and bring it to the ISSS.

Leadership Volunteers are a select group of Binghamton University students, who join ISSS staff to welcome new international students during Fall International Student Orientation. Leadership Volunteer recruitment is now underway.

Leadership Volunteers engage in a 5-day training program to help prepare them for their role during Orientation. The training program is organized by the 5 goals of the Orientation program:

The Training Program includes activities that give all Leadership Volunteers the opportunity to:

During Orientation, Leadership Volunteers greet new international students at Check-In, welcome them during the Introductory Meeting, lead small group discussions, accompany them to all meals, provide reassurance and essential information, and most importantly contribute to a warm and sincere presence during the new international student's first few days on campus. Many new students tell the ISSS how important the Leadership Volunteers were to their initial experience at Binghamton University. Many Leadership Volunteers tell the ISSS how valuable the training was to their own professional and personal development.

Leadership Volunteer Training will take place Monday, August 17 to Friday, August 21, 2009. International Student Orientation starts Monday, August 24 and ends on Wednesday, August 26, 2009.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reports that applications continue to be processed. Approximately 44,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. 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.

But on May 29, 2009, USCIS had reported that 45,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. So why did the cap count decrease from late May to late June?

USCIS has explained that the decrease is due to the number of cases that were denied, revoked or withdrawn. Some employers, especially IT consulting companies, are not able to submit the required evidence being requested by USCIS. As a result, those cases cannot go forward, opening up additional spaces for H-1B applications filed later.

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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