USCIS: Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 H-1B Cap Season To Begin April 1, 2019

Today, USCIS officially announced April 1, 2019 as the start date of FY 2020 H-1B cap season. USCIS also explained changes to the H-1B application process itself, including how premium processing will work, the agency’s new H-1B data hub, and an update to the order in which cap cases are selected.

Premium Processing

Rather than fully suspending the premium processing requests, the agency has decided to offer it in two phases: first to FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting a change of status, and then secondly to all other FY 2020 cap-subject petitions. Premium processing for the first phase will commence on May 20, 2019.

Applicants wishing to use premium processing for their H-1B petitions requesting a change of status may concurrently file Form I-907 with the H-1B petition on April 1. These petitions will not be processed by USCIS until after all data entry on cap cases has been completed, around May 20, 2019. Petitioners may also convert cases filed as a change of status and picked in the H-1B lottery to premium processing after May 20, 2019 if they prefer. The rest of the FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions will likely be able to upgrade to premium processing in June 2019.

H-1B Data Hub

The new H-1B Employer Data Hub — available on April 1st — will allow the public to search for H-1B petitioners by fiscal year, NAICS industry code, company, name, city, state, or zip code. The hub is meant to allow members of the public to calculate approval and denial rates as well as review which employers are using the H-1B program, therefore increasing transparency between the agency and the public.

Selection Process

As previously noted, the Department of Homeland Security has reversed the order in which USCIS will select petitions. The purpose of the reversal is to increase the chances that more advanced degree H-1B petitions will be selected in any lottery.

Year of the Pig

One of our favorite Lunar New Year exhibits is the incredible Zodiac Spectacular at the Atrium at Crown Towers in Melbourne, Australia. This display features large-scale luminous animals of the Chinese zodiac. In honor of the Lunar New Year on February 5, the Atrium also features daily performances during the first ten days of this month by a lion dance team to “chase away evil spirits.” (There is also a Hawker-style food market with roving entertainers along the Crown Riverwalk and a fireworks display on February 9.) Back here in New York City, revelers can celebrate with the annual Firecracker Ceremony in Roosevelt Park on February 5 and the famous New Year Parade and Festival in Chinatown on February 17. Feng Shui Master Marites Allen has forecasts and advice for the Year of Pig: “Possible upheavals may happen as economies of certain countries may be largely disrupted due to changes in rules and market conditions.” And: “Be more considerate, understanding and avoid discussions that could lead to you being misinterpreted. Display your peace and harmony emblems at home.” Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Between Two Worlds

Escher X nendo | Between Two Worlds is a visually stunning exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (known as NGV) in Melbourne featuring over 150 preparatory sketches, drawings, woodcuts, mezzotints, and lithographs of famed Dutch artist M. C. Escher along with work by the internationally-acclaimed Japanese design studio nendo. The pairing is appropriate since both Escher and Oki Sato, nendo’s founder and principal designer, “share common interests in their love of spatial manipulation, optical illusions and playful visual devices.” In this exhibit, which I thoroughly enjoyed, Sato and his design house nendo have created an immersive installation where visitors can experience Escher’s brilliant 2D graphic world along with nendo’s inventive 3D design world. Sato chose the house shape as a motif for the exhibition because he wanted to create “a house for Escher.” The house motif is repeated in various formats in the exhibition rooms and playfully interspersed with Escher’s own works. In the exhibition’s largest room (the above photo), a grid of black-and-white houses with both open and closed roofs act as a maze that forces visitors to walk through the space to discover tabletop light-boxes displaying works by Escher. Sato says: "I sort of feel like I became best friends with Escher, even though I never met him.” Visitors to the exhibit might feel the same. Escher X nendo is on display at the NGV International through April 7, 2019.

The Dubai Fountain Show

The Dubai Fountain is the world’s tallest performing fountain. Located in Downtown Dubai, at the base of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, the fountain is over 900 feet in length (which is equivalent to over two soccer fields) and located on the thirty-acre Burj Lake. The fountain has a unique design consisting of five circles of varying sizes and two arcs, and features powerful nozzles that shoot water up to truly fantastic heights. With over 6,600 WET Superlights and twenty-five color projectors, the fountain has a visual spectrum of over 1,000 different “water expressions,” and fifty color projectors provide a full spectrum of color with a total output of 1.5 million lumens! The fountain shows are set to different songs and include everything from classical to contemporary Arabic to world music. (The one set to Michael Jackson’s Thriller is particularly memorable!) During the shows, the fountain can have over 22,000 gallons of water in the air at any given moment. Stay dry!

Tower Bridge

During my trip to London this week, I got an up close and personal look at the iconic Tower Bridge on a foggy and rather moody night. Built over 120 years ago, it is an engineering marvel and I never get tired of seeing it, especially with the new lighting system installed for the 2012 Olympic Games. Across the water is the Tower of London, the famous prison (residents included Anne Boleyn and Guy Fawkes) and site of numerous executions by hanging, beheading, and being burned at the stake. On a less gruesome note, visitors to the bridge can experience spectacular panoramic views as well as take a look inside the Victorian engine rooms to see the steam engines that once powered the bridge lifts. The City of London is required to raise the bridge to “provide access to and egress from the Upper Pool of London for registered vessels with a mast or superstructure of 30 feet or more.” This service is free of charge and available with twenty-four hours notice any time, day or night, 365 days per year. Which is good to know. Just in case I find myself on the Thames with a thirty-foot superstructure. Which, come to think of it, might be a good way to spend Thanksgiving. But however you celebrate, enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and long weekend!

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi) is one of the most iconic sights in Rome. This fountain, a late Baroque masterpiece, was designed by Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762. The fountain stands about eighty-five feet high and is approximately 160 feet wide. At the center is Pietro Bracci’s statue of Oceanus standing on a chariot pulled by sea horses and accompanied by tritons, similar to how I get around Rome (okay, I wish). While apparently splashing around in the fountain like Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni in La Dolce Vita is frowned upon, visitors are allowed to toss coins in, since according to legend, those who toss coins into its waters will return to Rome. But don’t worry, at the end of each day the coins are collected and donated to charity.

Have an Ace Labor Day!

It's the US Open again and time for all things tennis (and Roger Federer!). This week I was at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens when the five-time US Open champion delivered fourteen aces (including the one above) and defeated Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets. Roger (we're on a first name basis) continued his success in US Open night matches, notching another record: the most wins without a loss in the first round of the US Open by any man in the Open Era (since 1968), according to ESPN. In total, Roger has eighty-three career wins at the US Open, putting him 2nd behind Jimmy Connors (who had ninety-eight). Just some fun facts as you go into the long weekend. Go Roger! And Happy Labor Day!

The London Mastaba

The London Mastaba on Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park.

The London Mastaba, the first major outdoor public work by the artist Christo in the UK, consists of 7,506 horizontally stacked, painted barrels on an anchored floating platform. The sculpture’s total weight is 600 metric tons, but it only takes up approximately 1% of the lake's total surface area. “It’s a dream come true,” Christo says in ArtNews about the piece. The London Mastaba, which took two years to produce, is entirely funded through the sale of Christo’s original art works. For those who can't make it to Hyde Park, The London Mastaba can also be experienced in virtual reality via the Acute Art app for free. Users of the app can look down on the sculpture from a bird’s eye view and see it at different times, including sunrise and sunset. For those who can make it in person, the sculpture is on view to September 23, 2018. Go see it while you can. It's magnificent.