H1B Tentative Cut-Off Date for FY 2000 Cap Cases is March 10, 2000
Posted June 14, 2000

In previous issues of the MurthyBulletin, we have mentioned that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has been processing and placing temporary “pauses” on processing of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 H1B cases subject to the 115,000 quota for this FY. The INS has recently announced that it believes that all four Service Centers will reach the goal of processing all H1B cases subject to the H1B cap for this fiscal year, during this week of June 12, 2000.

Once the Service Centers confirm that they have reached the processing of cases filed on or before March 10, 2000, the INS again expects to pause processing of the H1B cap cases. Although the INS has not explained what the “pause” means, we assume that they will again review the H1B cases approved against this fiscal year at all the four Service Centers and make a decision regarding whether that should be the final cut off date, unless U.S. Congress passes legislation increasing the H1B quota for this fiscal year.

The California Service Center (CSC) hopes to clear its backlog of non-H1Bcap cases. CSC confirms that they have processed non-H1B cap cases filed through April 10, 2000, and intend to reduce their backlog on non-cap H1Bs to 45 days.