May Holidays and H-1B Cap
Posted by admin on May 8, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Dear Friends,
Here in the United States we don’t generally think of early May for holidays but on the other side of the Pacific, Japan is just now finishing “Golden Week” with its three major holidays and its millions of travelers. On the other side of the Atlantic in France, May 8 is “Victory Day,” celebrating the end of World War II. And in France, Japan, the US and hundreds of other places around the world we all sit down this coming Sunday to honor one of the most important individuals – if not the most important individual – in our country: our mom. Happy Mother’s day to all of the Moms around the world.
H-1B Cap Count
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continue to accept applications for the H-1B, which allows international professionals in a specialty occupation, to work in the US. As of May 4, USCIS has received 45,000 applications toward the cap of 65,000. For more information see:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f
This week, for just a while longer, we will be accepting new applications for our wonderful Midwest water-parks.
Arm and Leg, and H-1B Cap Numbers
Posted by admin on April 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Dear Friends,
From around the world, people come to the United States to learn American English. And yet, even those born and raised here sometimes need to learn new language – especially our fun colloquial terms. Sitting at Easter dinner the other day my wife was telling a story about an extremely expensive dinner she had, explaining that it had cost “An arm and a leg.” My five years old niece, who had never heard this expression before, asked her very seriously, “Why did you have to pay with pieces of your body?”.
H-1B Numbers
The United States Immigration and Citizenship Service, as of April 20, had received approximately 44,000 H-1B petitions that count toward the cap of 65,000 and continues to accept more applications daily. In addition USCIS has received approximately 20,000 petitions for the 20,000 slots reserved for applicants with advanced degrees but they are still accepting those applications as well because not all petitions received are accepted.
Today we have a huge number of positions available for J Interns in Ohio at another wonderful water park.
Filed under Newsletter · Tagged with american english, h-1b, ohio, usa, visa
Doggie Bags International and New I-9 Form
Posted by admin on April 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Dear Friends,
Is it proper to take home unfinished food from a restaurant? In the United States most people think it would be wasteful to NOT take perfectly good food home. (”Doggie Bags” – the bags restaurants use to send home un-eaten food are for just that purpose – even though the contents are usually consumed by humans and not dogs). At dinner the other night, I learned from my Brazilian friends that in their country it is looked down upon to bring left-overs home. And our waiter, from Moldova, said that in her country they do not bring home food from restaurants either. I know from my personal experience in Japan that is it similar there. I heard a story of a Japanese restaurant not allowing food to leave because they were afraid of being sued if the food became unhealthy on the way home and someone got sick. Here we would more likely get sick thinking about all of that wasted food.
New I-9 Form
Starting this month US employers need to use the new I-9 Employment Verification form for new employees that has April 3, 2009 printed on the lower right-hand corner. You can find this form at www.uscis.gov or call 1-800-870-3676.
This week we have lots of positions in recreation and hospitality available.
Filed under Newsletter · Tagged with i-9, international, usa, visa
Party Punctual and J Participants with No Positions
Posted by admin on April 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Dear Friends,
Celebrations are a fun and important part of every culture. But the time of arrival at parties can vary significantly from one place to another. In Japan parties start on time – exactly on time. (And, they even END on time!) Here in the US it is customary to arrive “fashionably late” for a party, knowing that there will only be a few people there at the official time the party is to start. In Brazil most guests arrive at weddings about 30 minutes late. (If a Brazilian Bride were to arrive at her wedding on time, she would be the only one there.) I am told that in Spain no one shows up on time to parties because, if you are the first one there, you may have to help prepare the food.
J Participants Who Have Lost Positions
With the current difficult economic situation in the United States many J Trainees, Interns and Work and Travel participants here have lost their work-placements. Without a placement they are out-of-status for the J visa and, legally, must return home unless a new position is found. Most J visa sponsors will offer participants some time to find a new position – often 30 days – and offer them assistance with finding a new position. But finding positions is not always possible and, in the worst case, some participants can be forced to return home.
This week we have many wonderful positions available monitoring water-slides and indoor surfing in the Great Mid-west.
Filed under Newsletter · Tagged with j visa, japan, midwest, usa
Different Worlds, Same Understandings and H-1B Arrests
Posted by admin on February 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Dear Friends,
A Chinese American friend of mine from Berkeley, California, the home of hippies and the ’60s free speech movement, was telling me and another friend from Mumbai India, the home of centuries old temples and Hindu monks, about a gift he gave his father. During the dot com boom, my Chinese-American friend had sold his on-line business and bought a new Lexus automobile for his Dad to say thanks for all of the support he had been given. His father was overjoyed and was about to call his older brother with the exciting news when he was stopped by his wife. At this point our Indian friend, who understood the cultural etiquette well though he was raised 8700 miles away, broke in and explained why the wife has stopped the phone call: if the father had called it would have been an embarrassment to his older brother – his son had never bought him a new car.
11 Arrested for H-1B Fraud
On February 12, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that they had arrested 11 people in 6 states who had been involved with bringing in H-1B workers for jobs that did not always exist or for giving them unauthorized jobs. There were approximately 8 Federal agencies and 7 state agencies involved in the investigation.
Filed under Newsletter · Tagged with california, chinese-american, india, usa, visa
Super Football and H-2B Workers
Posted by admin on February 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Dear Friends,
While hundreds of millions of people around the world watched immense professional athletes earning millions of dollars playing football in the Super Bowl, here at home this past weekend I watched two young boys play catch on a dark field. Football in America is televised pageantry full of flash and color and amazing athletic performances. But it is also a fun game that kids play by throwing a ball. Late Sunday afternoon Wesley 14, and Spencer 16, were practicing diving catches in the rain on a soaked field. They like football (in spite of the fact – or maybe because of the fact – they can get very wet and very messy.) And then they can go home and watch it on TV.
H-2B Workers.
The past year, over 100 H-2B workers disappeared from their employer in Alabama, leaving the company, the local community and the Department of Homeland Security asking questions as to what came of these Napalese individuals. H-2B workers, as compared to the J, Exchange Visitor participants which we primarily use, are generally less-skilled with little motivation to return to their country if they are poor. In contrast, our J participants are generally college-educated and look forward to returning home to use the skills that they have acquired.
We are continuing to gather new positions for hospitality students and professionals interested in working at one of America’s largest indoor water parks.
Filed under Newsletter · Tagged with super bowl, usa, visa, work
Change in US Sofware and Hiring H-2Bs In Spite of the Cap
Posted by admin on January 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Dear Friends,
A Brazilian e-mail I received this week- from the “United States” – summarized what many in the international community feel about our new President, Barack Obama. (I use this e-mail as an example of an international perspective, not as a criticism of our out-going President.)
Dear World:
We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely,
The United States of America
Finding H-2B Workers In Spite of the Cap
Employers interested in hiring international workers using the H-2B visa can still do so, in spite of the cap for fiscal 2009 being met. Workers, who are in the US, already have the H-2B visa, and are in-status, can extend their visa in many circumstances. The employer still needs to have an approved Labor Certification and successfully file an H-2B Petition but using H-2B workers can be possible.
We have just successfully filled all of the positions at a beautiful private club in New York.
Filed under Newsletter · Tagged with barack obama, brazilian, h-2b, usa
Seeing Differences and Beyond; H-2B Cap Reached
Posted by admin on January 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Dear Friends,
The subway in Japan can be an exotic place, especially when you are a six year old who has spied an American: “Mommy, mommy foreigner! Foreigner!” Being seen as different was one of my least favorite things about living in Japan. Similarly, a Japanese friend told me about the sideways looks she got in Boston where she lived. Being seen as different makes you feel uncomfortable – at the very least. This coming Monday the United States celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, a person who dedicated his life fighting for the rights of those who looked different from the majority of other Americans. Therefore, it is especially fitting that, the following day, the United States celebrates as we inaugurate our first African-American President. Though people around the world will continue to stare at those who appear different, it is wonderful that the United States has proven that we can also see beyond those differences.
H-2B Cap Reached
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on January 8 that it has enough petitions to fill the H-2B cap for the second half of Fiscal Year 2009. You cannot get any more H-2B workers with start dates prior to October 1, 2009. We can still help out with J Trainees or J Interns for this period.
We have positions available in the New York area for the Spring and Summer of this year.
Filed under Newsletter · Tagged with citizenship, h-2b, immigration, j1, japan, united states, usa
Thanksgiving International; H2B Visa Cap Numbers
Posted by admin on November 26, 2008 · Leave a Comment
November 26, 2008
Volume 6, Number 37
Dear Friends,
As people from around the world come to the United States to live and work, they often adopt many of our – formerly foreign – customs. Like tomorrow’s celebration of Thanksgiving. While, back in Algeria or Albania for example, one would never consider eating a turkey with cranberry sauce, once in the United States, people from everywhere can be found at a Safeway grocery store purchasing “Stove Top Stuffing,” gravy and pumpkin pies – items that can’t even be found back “at home.” I believe it is safe to say that most of these newcomers learn to enjoy our traditional meal on Thanksgiving day – even if they can’t quite understand the other Thanksgiving tradition that us Americans can’t live without: 6 hours of football on television.
H2B Visa Cap Updates
This week the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service updated their cap numbers for the H visa, and as of, November 21, there were already 4,663 H-2B applicants approved with another 5,602 pending of the 33,000 available for the second half of the 2009 fiscal year which does not begin until April 1 of 2009. (The J Visa which we use, does not have a formal numerical cap nor does it require the job to be seasonal – it is always available.)
We are now accepting applications for a variety of hospitality-related jobs located in the New York area and the Mid-West for the spring of 2009.
Hope you enjoy your turkey this week, with or without the football,
Filed under Newsletter · Tagged with citizenship, h2b, immigration, thanksgiving, usa, visa
The Election’s Afterglow; Obama on Immigration
Posted by admin on November 14, 2008 · Leave a Comment
November 14, 2008
Volume 6, Number 35
Dear Friends,
The afterglow of the Obama Presidential victory seems to continue filtering down from around the world. Here in the US though, it is not as one of my South American friends thought – Obama is not viewed in the US as the new Martin Luther King. On the contrary, Obama won because he appealed to all Americans of all racial backgrounds. Listening to my friends from Jamaica and Japan and Poland and Brazil and India, it seems he appeals internationally as well. From each of those countries I heard the same comment: “Congratulations on Obama.”
Obama on Immigration
How will the Obama victory affect international visas for foreigners interested in coming to the US for work experience? While it is hard to say exactly, one thing for sure is that the economy of the US is not great right now. Because of this it would be difficult for anyone in the government to justify additional visas for foreigners wanting to work in the US. But Obama does encourage international exchange so the J program should continue to thrive.
Another of our host companies from the New Jersey area is looking for applicants with Food and Beverage as well as Culinary experience for the coming Spring and Summer season.
Filed under Newsletter · Tagged with election, immigration, j1, obama, usa, visa