24 Feb 2014

Immigrant Youth Achievement Award – Nominations Close Feb 28!

Social scientists have long recognized that there's something special about immigrants. As historians know, immigrant energy, creativity, and brainpower have driven the growth of this country from its very beginning, and economists often remark about the disproportionate number of patents and doctorates earned by foreign-born...

21 Feb 2014

I am currently working on OPT that will expire next week. I am eligible for the OPT extension based on a STEM degree. When should I file my OPT STEM extension application? Can I still do it within the 60-day grace period upon the expiration of my initial OPT?

Answer: No. While it is true that you should be in valid status during the 60-day grace period upon the expiration of your initial OPT employment authorization, a timely filed STEM extension application has to be filed (i.e. received by USCIS) prior to the expiration of...

19 Feb 2014

Evaluating Stakeholder Satisfaction with USCIS

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on February 10, 2014 that it has contracted with a professional research firm to solicit feedback from "customers" and evaluate how satisfied stakeholders are with the services provided by the USCIS. The research firm, Barbaricum, has already begun...

19 Feb 2014

Christian Science Monitor Counters Immigration Myths

A post on the Christian Science Monitor WebSite put us in mind of a popular bumper sticker that admonishes: "Don't believe everything you think." This advice is especially relevant in the context of immigration, because the conventional wisdom so often proves to be wrong -...