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| Immigration & Administration | |
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SLUTZKER CENTER WILL CLOSE AT 3 PM MAY 2: REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS RESUME MAY 3
The Slutzker Center for International Services will close at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007. We will resume our regular business hours of 8:30 am until 5:00 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2007. The weekly Practical Training Seminar scheduled for Wednesday, May 2 will be rescheduled for Thursday, May 3 at 3:00 pm.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and hope that you will be able to plan accordingly. MAY 2 PRACTICAL TRAINING SEMINAR RESCHEDULED FOR MAY 3 AT 3:00 PM
The Practical Training Seminar scheduled for Wednesday, May 2 at 3:00 pm has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 3 at 3:00 pm. The Slutzker Center will close at 3:00 pm May 2 and will resume regular business hours May 3, 2007.
Information about Curricular Practical Training is available on our website at: http://international.syr.edu/practical_training.htm
Information about Optional Practical Training is available on our website at: http://international.syr.edu/Practical_training_OPT.htm EXTENSION OF YOUR PROGRAM OF STUDY
If you are a J-1 or F-1 student, maintaining status and making normal progress towards completing your degree, but will be unable to complete your course of study by the end date indicated on your DS-2019 or I-20, you must apply for a program extension prior to your document's expiration date.
Currently, students with end dates of May 9 and May 14, may submit extension materials at the Slutzker Center front desk. You will receive an e-mail within two business days to confirm receipt of your documents and a list of any additional items that you may have to submit.
In order for an extension to be authorized by the Slutzker Center, you must have a valid academic reason and submit the appropriate extension form, copies of your I-20/DS-2019's, passport, visa, and I-94 (and copies of the documents issued for your dependents if applicable), proof of health insurance including medical evacuation and repatriation valid for one full year or until the end of your program, and proof of financial support for the extension period beginning from the day you submit the request continuing through to the end of your program or a year (whichever is first). Acceptable financial support includes: personal/family bank statement, assistantship letter, scholarship letter, fellowship letter and a notarized letter from a sponsor (relative or third party) and sponsor's financial bank statement.
In general, extension requests should be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the program end date, so always try to plan accordingly.
H-1B UPDATE: ADVANCED DEGREE AND GENERAL CAP
H-1B Advanced Degree Cap Update
As of April 23, 2007, approximately 18,600 H-1B "master's cap" applications have been filed with US Immigration. With the master's cap at 20,000, it looks as though the cap will be reached in the very near future.
H-1B Cap For FY 2008 Reached And "Lottery" Completed
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates that it received 150,000 H-1B petitions as of the close of business Monday, April 2. Because the number of petitions exceeds the number of H-1B visa numbers available, USCIS will use a random selection process for all cap-subject filings received on April 2, 2007 and April 3, 2007. USCIS will reject and return, along with filing fee(s), all petitions from April 2 and 3 not randomly selected and any H-1B petition filed on or after Wednesday, April 4, 2007.
USCIS has completed the random selection process to determine which H-1B petitions will continue to final processing. Applicants who submitted properly filed petitions accepted for adjudication will receive a receipt notice dated on or after April 12, 2007. All petitions not chosen will be returned with the fee(s) to the petitioner or their authorized representative. The total process is expected to take approximately four weeks. CANCELING OR WITHDRAWING AN OPT REQUEST
Students are advised that OPT authorization cannot be withdrawn or canceled once OPT is approved by Immigration. Slutzker Center staff contacted Immigration on this issue and were advised that there are no provisions of law that allow USCIS to revoke or cancel any previously authorized Optional Practical Training.
A student may cancel or withdraw an OPT request prior to final approval.
Withdrawal requests should then be mailed to the Vermont Service Center. Please be advised that there is no guarantee that the withdrawal/cancellation request will be honored by Immigration—it will often depend on where the OPT application is in the approval process. OPTIONAL PRACTICAL TRAINING PAYMENT GUIDELINES
The fee for submitting an I-765 application for Optional Practical Training employment authorization for a qualified F-1 academic student is currently $180. U.S. Immigration has proposed to increase this fee to $340, which could become effective as early as April 2007. At this time, we do not know if or when this increase will occur. The Slutzker Center will announce when this increase goes into effect, if at all, as soon as we are made aware of the date. Currently, checks or money orders should be made payable to "Department of Homeland Security" for the amount of $180.
U.S. Immigration instructions regarding payment of the fee are as follows: "If a fee is required, it will not be refunded. Pay in the exact amount. Checks and money orders must be payable in U.S. currency. Make check or money order payable to the 'Department of Homeland Security'."
Recently, students have reported that Immigration has returned applications due to alterations or improper dollar amounts on personal checks. For example, if your personal check has a former address and you cross it out and write your current address you must sign/initial the change. Please also take care when writing the exact dollar amount on your check. If you have concerns about using your personal check, money orders are a good alternative since you are able to write your correct address on the money order.
If your application is returned to you, please carefully read the reasons provided by Immigration and follow their instructions for resubmittal. Return of your application will likely increase the time it takes to receive your work authorization since processing time would run from the date of your resubmittal.
FINAL NOTE -- Immigration will accept OPT applications up to 120 days prior to your program completion date or employment start date; applications should not be submitted prior to the 120 day mark as they will likely be returned to you.
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| Events & Notices | |
| CAMPUS EVENTS FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK
ACADEMIC SUCCESS LIBRARY WORKSHOP-REFWORKS: ONLINE CITATION AND BIBLIOGRAPHY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM APRIL 27TH
Do you know about RefWorks and how it can save you time with citations?
Come find out —Learn how RefWorks can help you generate a bibliography, add references to your paper, and more.
RefWorks:Online Citation and Bibliography Management System
Date: Friday, April 27th SALSA NEWS AND WHERE TO DANCE THIS WEEK
FRIDAY - Syracuse: ANNUAL EARTH DAY COMMUNITY WIDE CLEAN UP-APRIL 28TH
Every year nearly 100 Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry students and Syracuse residents gather to pick up litter in the University neighborhood. Please join us again this year at the Westcott Community Center. Volunteers are needed from 10 am-2:30 pm. (Lunch will also be served.) If you would like to volunteer to help, please complete the online form. TEN TONS OF LOVE- APRIL 30TH-MAY 18TH Ten Tons of Love is Syracuse University and SUNY ESF's annual food and clothing drive. Last year over 11 ½ tons of donated goods were collected. The drive runs from April 30-May 18, 2007. To assist with collection, donation bins are placed in all residence halls and several other locations on and off campus. The bins are emptied daily from April 30-May 18 and the items collected are taken to an off-site agency for distribution. Ten Tons of Love is a collaborative effort between the Office of Off-Campus Student Services, Lutheran Campus Ministry, Students Offering Service, Department of Recreation Services and the University RAPE Center. Ten Tons of Love is only possible with the assistance of many volunteers, like you, to help load, move and sort all the donated items.
Volunteers are needed for the following:
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| Advisor's Corner | |
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DIRECTOR'S LAMENT
It has come to our attention recently that many students are not reading SCISNEWS. This causes us great dismay as we do not know of any better method of communicating important information to you on a regular basis. Events such as MayFest After Dark/International Festival were highly advertised in SCISNEWS for many weeks, and yet most students said that they knew nothing about it. Issues relating to travel signatures, health insurance, and fees for immigration applications are written about in this weekly publication, yet students walk in daily requesting to see an advisor for answers to questions which were discussed in a past issue of SCISNEWS. Kevin left us in February, and a farewell article was featured in SCISNEWS. Students are still calling and walking in asking for Kevin. Why aren't you reading SCISNEWS?? We allocate about 10 working hours a week to the creation and distribution of SCISNEWS. If it is not worthwhile, we will discontinue this method of communication. But how will you learn about important issues related to your stay in the USA? We cannot meet every student every day that you have a question. That is the purpose of the newsletter. If you have at least read this article, please send a note to me at lescis@syr.edu saying "I've read your lament!" If you have ideas or suggestions, please let us know. If you think that we should just abandon this effort to inform our student population, let us know that as well. If we don't receive responses from a significant portion of our population, we will seriously consider abandoning SCISNEWS next year. Thank you. Dr. Patricia A. Burak
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| Copyright
© 2007 LESCIS. All rights reserved.
The Lillian and Emanuel Slutzker Center for International Services. Syracuse University |
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