Overview of H1B Count
Posted Mar 18, 2000

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy continues to receive questions and eMails pertaining to how the H1B cap and counting work. Although we have discussed this issue in previous issues of the MurthyBulletin, we believe that an overview of the history of the H1B cap and a summary of the events in the last month or two will be helpful for many of you.

The American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 temporarily raised the number of H1B visas available annually from 65,000 to 115,000 for fiscal years 1999 and 2000, and from 65,000 to 107,500 for FY2001. Thereafter, the H1B numbers would revert back to 65,000 in FY2002.

In the summer of 1999, INS discovered there were discrepancies in the number of petitions recorded against FY1999 cap. On November 10, 1999, INS contracted with the consulting firm KPMG Peat Marwick to review the counting methodology, and determine the extent of the H1B discrepancy. On February 17, 2000, INS indicated that they believed the H1B quota would soon be exhausted for FY2000.

Last week, INS announced that as of February 15, 2000, INS recorded approximately 67,000 H1B approvals against the FY2000 cap; and 44,000 H1B petitions were pending. However, they did not indicate how many of these pending cases are H1B cap cases.

Once INS determines that the FY2000 cap of 115,000 is reached, the agency intends to follow the notification procedures it established last year, which include publishing a notice in the Federal Register to inform employers about the orderly process for handling H1B petitions currently on file with INS and petitions received after the H1B cap has been reached.

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy will continue to keep you informed on this important issue.