H1B Processing Totals
Posted Sep 06, 2002

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in August 2002 announced the totals for H1B case filings made during the first three quarters of fiscal year (FY) 2002. FY2002 runs from October 1, 2001 to September 30, 2002. According to the announcement, from October 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002, INS processed 60,500 individual H1B cases that were subject to the annual numerical limit or "cap." Approximately 18,000 additional cap cases are pending, as of June 30, 2002. These statistics should not surprise many of us since the slowing of the economy and the bursting of the technology bubble have resulted in fewer H1B filings this past year.

The numerical limit for 2002 is 195,000 because of a temporary increase under the AC21 law of 2000. Therefore, unlike prior years, there is no danger of reaching the H1B cap before the end of this fiscal year. The allowed quota of 195,000 new H1Bs remains in place for FY2003 (until September 30, 2003). After that time, it returns to 65,000 per year, which was the figure prior to the 1998 H1B law known as the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA).

The number of cap cases processed this year is well below the 130,700 such cases that had been approved by the same time in 2001. Fewer than half of the H1B cases filed count against the cap largely because those cases that are filed for persons currently in H1B status are excluded from this tally. Cases filed by certain types of employers, such as certain educational institutions and nonprofit research organizations, are also excluded from the count.

The number of cap-exempt cases for the first three quarters of FY2002 is well below the levels for 2001 and 2000. For the first nine months of 2002 there were 159,000 such cases filed, as compared with over 200,000 for the prior two years. This reduction in the H1B usage reflects the economy and the hesitation of many employers to file H1B petitions for foreign workers.