The INS has announced that as of April 30, 103,753 H-1B petitions have been approved thus far this year. The total number of H-1B visas available for fiscal year 1999 is 115,000.

We do not yet know what the Service plans to do with the petitions it receives after all the available visas have been used. We do know that petitions submitted before April 6 will be adjudicated before any other steps are taken. Once all four Service Centers have dealt with petitions filed before that date, the INS will determine how many visas remain, and will also make determinations as to how to allocate them.

Don’t expect help this year from Congress. Senator Spencer Abraham, the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman who led the charge on raising the cap last year has stated that he will not push for a further lifting of the cap unless the Clinton Administration signals its support. And, to date, that support has not been coming.