++++++++IFCSS New Comers Working Committee News Release 9401++++++++ Table of Contents # of Lines ====================================================================== 1. IFCSS New Comers Working Committee Established ................. 35 2. Welcome Letter Project be Approved ............................. 16 3. New Comers Academic Fund be Approved ........................... 21 4. CSPA Report Preparation ........................................ 26 5. Question & Answer Service Begin Operation ...................... 10 6. J-1 Cases Help ................................................. 12 7. Standard Package for H-1B and Labor Certificate in Preparation . 10 8. Call for Contributions to 6th IFCSS Convention Platform ........ 25 ====================================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. IFCSS New Comers Working Committee Established ....................... 35 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the 2nd teleconference of 5th term IFCSS council held on November 20th, 1993, IFCSS President proposed to establish IFCSS New Comers Working Com- mittee and nominated Mr. Chengyan Liu, Washington University at St. Louis, as the committee chairman. The fifth term IFCSS council approved the pro- posal and the nomination unanimously. At the same time, Mr. Chengyan Liu called for volunteers to participate the committee's activities. After some communications, twenty one volun- teers joined the working committee. They are from Duke University (North Carolina) Idaho State University Indiana University at Bloomington Iowa State University Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Pennsylvania State University Purdue University Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Indiana) Rutgers University (New Jersey) State University of New York at Buffalo Tulane University (Louisiana) University of Chicago University of Houston University of Illinois at Chicago University of Illinois at Urbana Champion University of Maine at Orono University of Minnesota University of Oklahoma (2) University of Texas at Houston Washington University at St. Louis. The Working Committee contains four sub-groups. They are responsible for CSPA report preparation, questions and answer service, J-1 cases help, standard package compilation for H-1B and labor certificate application respectively. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Welcome Letter Project be Approved ................................... 16 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the IFCSS working meeting (02/05/94--02/06/94) held in Washington D.C., IFCSS President Lin Changsheng and 5th term Council approved the Welcome Letter Project proposed by the Working Committee. (You can read the document by gopher ifcss.org or ftp ifcss.org under directory /ifcss/ncomers/W_Letter_Project.) The main purpose of this project is to help New Comers to accomodate the new environment when they get into the United States. Mr. Anzhi Lai and VMr. Heping Shi will write the Chinese version and the English version of the welcome letter respectively. The Working Committee will contact colleges and universities for distributing welcome letters along with the little book . There are still many open topics in that book, if you are interesting in writing some of them, please feel free contact the Working Committee at ncomers@ifcss.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. New Comers Academic Fund be Approved ................................. 21 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the IFCSS working meeting, IFCSS New Comers Working Committee revised the original proposal with the help of many IFCSS veteran activists, and re-submit it to the IFCSS HQ. On February 18th, 1994, IFCSS President approved the proposal. (You can read the document by gopher ifcss.org or ftp ifcss.org under directory /ifcss/ncomers/NC_Academic_Fund.) The main purpose of this fund is to encourage New Comers to participate the academic activities as it's crucial for New Comers if they intend to pursue an academic career. From now on, the Working Committee will begin to accept the financial aid applications for attending academic conferences in the form of partial reimbursement. Please read the detailed regulations and get application form by gopher ifcss.org or ftp ifcss.org under directory /ifcss/ncomers/Fund_Application. You should mail your application to ncomers@ifcss.org prior to the conference, and we will send you a confirmation mail in accordance. The reimbursement process will be completed after the Working Committee get the necessary documents and evaluate your application. We will also post the regulations and the application form separately. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. CSPA Report Preparation .............................................. 26 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ever since the implementation of CSPA, many New Comers have felt its negative impact on their fates. While the positive impact on them which have been promised during the lobby process of CSPA have never shown up, chances are that the negative impact will become stronger and stronger as the time goes on. Rumors have been widespread that the negative impact will not only affect New Comers' chance individually, but also their dependents for the years to come. Though IFCSS Headquaters have promised to the New Comers community that they would present a CSPA report to assess the impact of CSPA, as a Working Committee affiliated with IFCSS which is solely formed by New Comers, we feel strongly that it is neces- sary for us to present an independent report to assess this issue. If you have any information related to the following categories, please feel free to contact us at ncomers@ifcss.org. a) Any information/examples of positive effect of CSPA on New Comers, e.g concrete examples of New Comers' personal experiences. b) Any information/examples of negative effect of CSPA on New Comers, e.g concrete examples of New Comers' personal experience. c) Any legal or immigration experts' analysis on the CSPA issue and its side effects. d) Any immigration experts who are willing to help the Working Committee to assess this issue from their expertise' point of view. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Question & Answer Service Begin Operation ............................ 10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Working Committee understands that many New Comers may face various problems in the course of pursuing graduate studies, such as changing visa, applying labor certificate, etc. In order to help New Comers to overcome these problems, the Working Committee decided to set up this service. If you have such kind of questions, please forward it to ncomers@ifcss.org. The Working Committee will try to consult experts and post the discussions. If you are the experts in this field and are willing to help New Comers, please contact us at ncomers@ifcss.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. J-1 Cases Help ....................................................... 12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last spring, the United States Information Agency (USIA) revised the J-1 regulation. The revised regulation allows extension beyond the three years limit and change visa category from J-1 scholar to J-1 student. However, it is very hard to get application approved, especially for New Comers (Chinese), unless the J-1 visa holders can get two years waiver. Nevertheless, many New Comers couldn't get the two year waiver from the Chinese Embassy as they couldn't get any response from their original working unit in China though they cleard all their financial liabilities. If you know any real case, please inform us at ncomers@ifcss.org. We will try to cooperate with institution officials, contact USIA and the Chinese Embassy to solve the problem. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Standard Package for H-1B and Labor Certificate in Preparation ....... 10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As we learned through numerous communications, many New Comers are not familiar with the application procedure for labor certificate and H-1B visa. In orer to help the New Comers, we will began to compile a standard package. If you have any questions concerned of the aforementioned package or if you have any experience in applying labor certificate or H-1B, please contact us at ncomers@ifcss.org. The Working Committee will put the documents into the ftp (gopher) site: ifcss.org, so that all the New Comers can share the information efficiently. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Call for Contributions to 6th IFCSS Convention Platform .............. 25 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the history of IFCSS, there're few New Comers' voice was heard on the various level of the organization. And many New Comers only grumble in a limited circle for the under-representation. In order to change the situation and make New Comers the real owner of IFCSS, the Working Committee call for your contributions on the 6th IFCSS convention platform. It may include the following aspects, a) On exchange. 1) Do you like to to see the new HQ to explore the possibilities for cooperations between China and IFCSS on consultation of market economy? 2) Do you like the new HQ organize a summer tour in China's special economic zone? 3) Do you like the new HQ organize other cooperation activities between China and IFCSS from bottom to top? b) On student services. 1) Do you expect a legal assistance service plan? 2) Do you like to see more inter-school or regional activities? 3) Do you like to pay membership fee for a better student service plan? c) On human rights. 1) Do you think help China's economic development can improve the overall human rights in our homeland? Please forward your comments to ncomers@ifcss.org. We appreciate your inputs no matter how little it is. +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | You can get the related documents by ftp ifcss.org or gopher ifcss.org | | under directory of ifcss/ncomers/*.*. If you have legal questions | | or need some tips on finding a job, please address your concerns to | | ncomers@ifcss.org. If you are interesting in helping New Comers, please | | contact us at ncomers@ifcss.org. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+