Visa Applicants Abroad Subject to the 1999 H1B Quota May Enter after Sept 20, 1999
Posted Aug 3, 1999

As mentioned in our June 1999 Immigration Law Bulletin of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy, the H1B cap having been reached was announced by the INS. All new H1B Petitions filed on or after INS confirmed that the cap had been reached, will need to indicate a start date of October 1, 1999 or later. Failure to do so will result in the H1B Petition being denied.

Like last year, visa applicants living outside the U.S. who were subject to the H1B quota this year, will only be able to enter the U.S. on or after September 21, 1999. This is because the rule provides that a person may enter up to 10 days before the start of the H1B start date to find an apartment, settle down and take care of procedural details, etc. Consulates in India are again concerned about the rush of H1B visa applicants in late September 1999 and so have decided to stamp the passport in advance for the October 1, 1999 candidates.

Leading newspapers in India have recently reported that the U.S. Embassy announced the following: "To avoid a rush of applications at consular posts in India after that date [October 1, 1999], U.S. visa offices in India have been authorized by the Department Of State to begin issuing visas against such petitions. These visas will not be valid for entry to the U.S. before September 21,1999, ten days before the scheduled commencement of work in the U.S.... All H1B visas issued under this program will bear a notation to this effect Persons who receive such visas should not attempt to board flights to the U.S. prior to that date, as airlines will be instructed not to honor the visas until then."

H1B applicants subject to the quota should accordingly not attempt to board an airplane to the U.S. for an H1B Petition approved effective from October 1, 1999, earlier than September 21, 1999.