​

​

‍

‍

Happy Wednesday. ✨

Soundarya here, from Unshackled. :)

I'm fully recovered from COVID and back to work! I'm also excited to share that I'll be at the INK Annual Conference happening on September 22nd in Bangalore, India.

INK is like the TED of India. It's a premium conference with the best of the best leaders, founders, and innovators. Past speakers include Ratan Tata, Peter Diamandis, Deepak Chopra, Amish Tripathi, and the like! If you'll be in India in late September, come sign up for it here.​

Before we jump in, I want to welcome 150 new subscribers to our newsletter since last week. Welcome, everyone! 🙏

You're receiving this email as part of the Unshackled weekly newsletter. Immigration is a complex world. So every Wednesday, I try to simplify that by sharing top stories and relevant resources that matter to you. I also sprinkle it with updates on what's happening with the Unshackled book & community. If you find value in reading it, forward this to a lucky friend. If this was forwarded to you, get your own here! Read all the past editions here. 💃

​

This week's TL;DR

• 70 Indians got together to file a lawsuit against USCIS.
• Let's decode the O-1A criteria! (interview with Ron Matten)
• Free Webinar: Master the ins and outs of merit-based visas​

​

📌 UNfold: Top stories

‍

​Nearly 70 Indian graduates are suing the US government for denying their H-1B​

Yep. USCIS denied the visa for 70 Indian graduates because of the fraudulent companies that employed them on their OPT. Now, the graduates are suing the government for denying them the H-1B without even giving them a chance to respond to the allegations. Tip for you: don't EVER say yes to a company that asks you to pay in exchange for giving you an offer letter/EAD card!

​

​Visa Bulletin for September 2023: What You Need to Know​

The September 2023 Visa Bulletin, released by the Department of State, provides updates on family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories. There's good news and bad news. Good news? The final action date for most countries moved forward to July 1, 2022, in the EB-2 category. Bad news? That didn't include India or China. There was no change for EB-1.

​

​

🎁 UNlock: Relevant resources
​

​Decoding All O-1A Criteria: AMA with Ron Matten (Immigration Lawyer)​

I interviewed Ron Matten, founder of Matten Law and a veteran lawyer, on what each of the O-1A criteria really mean and how you can build your profile. In this video, he talks about everything from decoding what "original contribution" means to whether it makes sense to apply for the O-1A before EB-1A. This was originally conducted within the Unshackled community. If you'd like to join it (and get free consults from lawyers), use this private link!​

​

​[Free Webinar] Mastering Merit-Based Visas [Aug 19th, 2023, 09:00 AM PST]​

Discover the ins and outs of merit-based visas directly from Sameer Khedekar, an immigration lawyer and the co-author of Unshackled. Whether you're an artist, a professional, or a person with extraordinary abilities, this webinar will help you navigate the complex immigration landscape.

​

​Compilation of tools and resources to find mentors, negotiate salaries, & get a job!​

To immigrants who got laid off & are looking for a job: here’s a VERY in-depth compilation of tools and resources to help you find mentors, negotiate salaries, & get a job! 225,000+ have been laid off so far in 2023 in the tech industry. Not to mention another 165,000+ that were laid off in 2022. This post compiles a ton of tools & products that may come in handy. Recommend saving it for future use.

​

🪄 UNveil: This week’s sponsor
​

I used Lawfully for the first time in 2021 to track the result of an H-1B visa application. As far as I know, they're the only mobile app that let you track visa applications in a few simple steps. With over 1M immigrants using their app, they're also the most popular option out there. If you're currently waiting for a result of a visa application -- or plan to apply for one soon -- go ahead and download their free app!​​​

​Download Lawfully Case Tracker: App Store​Download Lawfully Case Tracker: Google Play

👉 Want to sponsor an upcoming newsletter? Just hit reply to start a conversation.

​

​

🥳 UNshackled: What's happening in the community?

‍

Here's an exciting update: I'm planning to create a VERY high-quality "Case Study Library" filled with past O-1 and EB-1 recipients from all fields -- engineers, product managers, founders, artists, researchers, etc. You name it, we'll have it.

The first question anyone has asked me about these extraordinary visas is this: Where do I start?

The requirements to get these visas feel so daunting that you give up even before you begin. That's what I want to tackle with the case study library.

I'll pick 25 extraordinary immigrants with whom I'll do an in-depth interview, decoding everything from their first step to how they gathered press for their project to how much they paid a law firm. We'll turn these interviews into a video podcast as well as a case study.

This will be launched within the Unshackled community in the next 6-8 weeks.

If you'd like to join the community and get access to this library, along with free lawyer consults, free mentor consults, weekly events, and a ton of resources, use this private link.​

Or, if you just wanna kick back and read the book for now, get your copy on Amazon today! (both Kindle and paperback)

Until next week, stay wonderful.

​

​

Yours truly,

Soundarya 💚

‍