DOS Cable on FY1998 H-1B Cap
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS
SPECIAL EMBASSY PROGRAM
BUJUMBURA POUCH
JAKARTA POUCH
SURABAYA POUCH
UNCLAS STATE 097811
Visas
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS
Subject: H-1B Visas: Cap Counted Against Petitions Approved, Not Visas Issued
Ref: State 86700
1. Reftel informed overseas posts that INS has determined the 65,000 annual cap on H-1B petition approvals has been reached, and that INS would no longer be approving I-129 petitions for H-1B nonimmigrants in FY 1998.
2. It has come to the attention of the Visa Office that some posts have been refusing to issue further H-1B visas to beneficiaries of petitions approved prior to the reaching of the cap. The Visa Office wishes to remind the field that the annual cap is determined by the number of petitions approved by INS, not by the numbers of visas issued. Therefore posts should continue to process H-1B visas for the beneficiaries of current and approved I-129’s.
Talbott