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SENATOR SPENSER ABRAHAM AGAIN QUESTIONS INS METHODS OF COUNTING H-1B VISAS
Senator Spenser Abraham, the Chair of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee and one of the principle supporters of the 1998 law that raised the H-1B cap, has followed up on an earlier letter to the INS criticizing the agency’s seemingly perpetual problems in counting the number of H-1B visas issued each year. 
One of the most shocking parts of the letter indicates that while most people had assumed the INS dropped its plan to deduct visas it claims to have issued in error last year from this year’s total, the INS may still have plans to do so.  The letter, dated February 25, 2000, begins with Abraham’s statement that “My position remains that the INS does not have the statutory authority to subtract numbers from the FY 2000 H-1B cap and that attempted to do so would be unacceptable.” 
Members of Abraham’s staff have been meeting with the INS, particularly to discuss the ongoing audit of H-1B numbers being conducted by KPMG.  Three areas were of enough concern that Abraham is again writing to the INS.  First, it seems the INS told KPMG to count as cap cases all those in which the Form I-129 is marked for new employment and requests consular processing.  As Abraham points out, some petition so marked are not for initial applications.  His staff pointed this out to the INS, and received assurances that the INS would provide KPMG with new instructions.  In the letter, Abraham requests details of these instructions, and what KPMG did in response. 
A second issue concerns the multiple counting of the same beneficiary.  The INS instructed KPMG to match these files by using five pieces of information – receipt number, last name, first name, date of birth, country of birth and approval date.  Given the multiple variations in name spelling, Abraham suggested that all cases in which there are identical birthdates be screened to ensure multiple visas for the same beneficiary have not been counted toward the cap.  Abraham has not yet received a response to this suggestion, and requests one in this letter. 
Third, Abraham expressed his basic disapproval of the fact that the INS counts toward the cap visas that were issued but never used because it has no way of determining whether the visa is used.  He asks what the INS is doing about this issue. 
He finishes his letter with a statement that all concerned with counting H-1B visas can agree:  “It remains my view that INS counting procedures, including, quite disturbingly, the directions provided to date to KPMG, do not conform to the law and are artificially inflating the annual count of H-1B usage to the detriment of employers, employees, and the American economy.”