Travel Signature Reminder, H-1B Visa Cap Reached for Fiscal Year 2012, and On Campus Events

Nov. 29, 2011

 

1 – Announcements: H-1B Visa Cap Reached for Fiscal Year 2012

2 – Upcoming ISSO Events: Boston Ballet Nutcracker Sign-Ups Tomorrow at 10am in ISSO

3 – Reminders: Make sure you are traveling with your must current I-20 or DS-2019 and that you have an updated travel signature!

4 – ISSO Open Mic: New December Topic, Due by December 31st

5-Workshops: December Employment Workshops

6-On Campus Events: Just Performance and Navigating the American Health System

1 - ANNOUNCEMENT

H-1B Visa Cap Reached for Fiscal Year 2012

***PLEASE NOTE this does NOT effect H-1B visa applications filed by colleges/universities, university- affiliated research institutes or government-affiliated research institutes (or what are known as “cap-exempt” employers).  Brandeis University is NOT subject to the H-1B cap for H-1B visa applications for its employees (including postdoctoral fellows, teaching faculty, lecturers, and staff).  ***

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that as of November 22, 2011 it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2012.  This was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012 (October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012).

Each fiscal year there are approximately 85,000 H-1B visas available – 20,000 for individuals who have earned a Master’s degree or higher at a U.S. college/university, and an additional 65,000 general H-1B visas – for employment in specialty occupations in the U.S.  In recent years, the H-1B “cap” has been met before the end of the fiscal year. 

If have an employer (other than Brandeis University) that had submitted an H-1B visa petition on your behalf for employment, we strongly advise that you contact your employer’s human resource office, or immigration attorney handling your H-1B visa petition.

Please note that the H-1B cap being met does not effect extensions of current H-1B visa holders, changes in terms or conditions of current H-1B workers, concurrent H-1B employer petitions, and applications by cap-exempt employers.

For Brandeis alumni currently on approved F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT) or J-1 Academic Training (AT) for after completion of their Brandeis degree, who have an employer who has filed, or is interested in filing, an H-1B petition, it is very important that you speak with your employer about next steps.

We encourage any student who will be graduating in the near future, and has questions about OPT and H-1B visa procedures, to attend an ISSO Employment Workshop (a schedule is available on the main page of the ISSO website, right-hand side of the page, under “Upcoming Events”).  

2 – UPCOMING ISSO EVENTS

 Boston Ballet Nutcracker Performance 12/9- Tickets Available for $10 Starting at 10am on Wednesday 11/30

Sign-Ups in ISSO

The ISSO is excited to offer again this year tickets for the Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker, a well-known holiday tradition, at a discounted price! Tickets will be sold beginning on Wednesday 11/30 at 10 AM in the ISSO (Kutz 215.)

Price: $10/ticket (Cash Only!)

All interested in going to the show must visit the ISSO in person on 11/30 and pay in order to reserve a ticket. Tickets are for Brandeis international students and/or scholars ONLY (or spouses or children over the age of 3 at Brandeis international students and/or scholars). If you want to purchase a ticket for yourself and a friend (who must be a Brandeis international student/scholar), please have your friend’s ID with you at the time of purchase. Tickets are limited and will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets may NOT be reserved via email or phone.  

Information about Performance:

The Nutcracker performance begins at 7:30 on Friday, 12/9.

Transportation: All who purchase a ticket MUST use the bus provided by ISSO from Brandeis to the ballet. The bus will leave promptly at 5:30pm. The bus will return to Brandeis immediately after the show ends, roughly around 10:15pm. You can stay in Boston after the show, but you MUST inform ISSO (isso@brandeis.edu) by 4pm on Thursday 12/8 which means you will not be returning to Brandeis on the bus provided by the ISSO and will be returning on your own.


 3 - REMINDERS

Make sure you are traveling with your must current I-20 or DS-2019 and that you have an updated travel signature!

If you will be traveling outside of the U.S. this winter, double check that you have gotten a travel signature on your I-20 or DS-2019 that will be less than 6 months old when you re-enter the U.S.  If you need a new signature, you can leave your I-20 or DS-2019 with the ISSO and retrieve it the following business day.

Secondly, if you have received an email from the ISSO letting you know you have a new I-20 or DS-2019 (for a new major, etc.), make sure you pick it up before you travel for the winter.  It is important to travel with your most current I-20 or DS-2019. Please plan in advance!


4-ISSO OPEN MIC

December Submissions Due by December 31st!

December Topic: What are the biggest differences/similarities between your home country and the U.S.?

Email isso@brandeis.edu by end of the month with your submissions.

Feel free to include a photo!

In your email, indicate if you would like your submission to be anonymous or not!

Past submissions: http://www.brandeis.edu/acserv/isso/openmic/index.html

5-WORKSHOPS

December Employment Workshops

Friday, December 2
Tuesday, December 6
Monday, December 12

All Fall 2011 Employment Workshops will cover Curricular Practical Training (CPT, for F1 Visa holders) starting at 3pm, Optional Practical Training (OPT, for F1 Visa holders) from 3:30pm-4:30, and Academic Training (AT, for J1 Visa holders) starting at 4:30pm until 5pm. Workshops will be in the conference room of Kutz 215.

6 - ON CAMPUS EVENTS

Just Performance: Enacting Justice in the Wake of Violence

December 1-2, 2011

Thursday, 12/1, 5:30pm, Mandel Center for Humanities Atrium: Reception and Book Signing of Acting Together: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict

Thursday 12/1, 6:30pm, Mandel Center for Humanities Atrium: Keynote by Dr. Salomon Lerner Ferbes, President of Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Friday, 12/2, 12:00 noon, Shapiro Campus Center Multipurpose Room, Refreshments and Performance of “Biro”

Navigating the American Health System

Rescheduled for Wednesday 11/30 at noon

Graduate Center in Kutz

Don't know how to find a doctor?   When should you go to the emergency room?  Is it a cold or the flu?  Should you stay home in bed or go to the doctor?  Can't find your insurance card?  Did you get a bill in the mail and aren't sure what to do with it?

Stop by and have a slice of pizza and get your questions answered by folks from the health center!