Archive for 2020

“A Particularly Painful Decision”

Thursday, December 10th, 2020

By Frank Cadenhead, December 20, 2020 Tonight’s televised announcement of the French Prime Minister was another blow to the performing arts. The bad news came although the government’s Coronavirus control efforts were aggressive and it was working. Masks are a requirement in any public place and permission to leave your home had to be formally […]

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USCIS Has Officially Raised Premium Processing to $2500 EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 19, 2020… and an update on National Interest Waivers while we’re at it.

Friday, October 16th, 2020

The Screaming Demon Pumpkin and his festering goblins of anal carbuncles JUST announced TODAY that it was raising the premium processing fee from $1440 to $2500 effective this Monday, October 19, 2020. Any petitions postmarked after October 19, 2020 will be returned if they do not have the higher fee. Whilst I expect this to […]

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Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme at the Opéra Comique

Monday, September 28th, 2020

By: Frank Cadenhead. 28 September 2020. Tonight’s opening performance of Lully’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme at Paris’ Opéra Comique has been cancelled. The next four nights also. The reason: one of the “artistic team” has Covid-19. The performances of 3 to 8 October are still planned, with the assumption that the situation would be under control […]

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Culture in Contagious Times.

Friday, September 4th, 2020

By: Frank Cadenhead. The photo below – two recent front page features in a regional newspaper in France – suggests just how high the visibility is of the world of culture in France. It also suggests the wide concern about this world which is usually centered around a public assembly in these pandemic times. Art […]

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USCIS Furlough-Nado UPDATE!

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

GOOD NEWS: USCIS has agreed to call off its planned furlough of 13,500 employees which had been scheduled for this weekend. BAD NEWS: In exchange for this, the U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously agreed to let USCIS raise the premium processing fee from $1440 to $2500 for O and P petitions and cancel the […]

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TODAY’S USCIS FORECAST: A Storm of Travel Ban Issues with a Cold Blast of COVID-based RFEs, and a Looming Furlough-Nado!

Saturday, August 22nd, 2020

I. Consulates Are Open, But Now Refusing To Issue Visas To Applicants Who Have Been In Certain Countries For artists who have been approved for visas, but have been waiting months to apply for them at a U.S. Consulate, many U.S. Consulates have re-opened and are beginning to issue visas. But not so fast…there continues […]

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…And They’re Not Done Yet! USCIS Has Just Imposed New Filing Fees and Forms!

Saturday, August 1st, 2020

On July 31, 2020, DHS (The Department of Homeland (In)Security) issued a “Final Rule” confirming that USCIS (Unconscionable, Shameful, Callous, Immoral, and Sinister) will be imposing steep fee increases for visa petitions as well as creating new forms. Assuming that the many lawsuits and injunctions that are already in the works don’t stop this, then […]

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USCIS May Be Coming After Unemployed Foreign Artists

Thursday, July 30th, 2020

We have seen two Requests for Evidence (RFE) this week for foreign artists who are currently in the U.S. with O-1 classification (both of whom have been previously approved for O-1 classification multiple times) and who filed new O-1 petitions to extend their status and remain in the U.S. In each case, neither artist has […]

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July 14th Concert in Paris

Wednesday, July 15th, 2020

By Frank Cadenhead. The July 14th Concert at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris went ahead as planned last night – with some adjustments for the current health climate. This iconic Bastille Day event, followed by a famous fireworks display, is now in the eighth year, and was televised in France, on Eurovision […]

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Trump Punishes Students For Taking On-Line Classes

Tuesday, July 7th, 2020

Last night, July 6, 2020, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that all F-1 (student) visa holders attending schools that have decided to operate entirely on-line for the fall 2020 semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic will not be permitted to take a full online course load and remain in the U.S., forcing schools and […]

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