State Department Cable about ACTA
Posted Dec 11, 2000

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently issued a cable describing those aspects of the new H1B law known as the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (ACTA) that may be relevant in the context of visa applications. The cable is a straightforward summary of the provisions, without commentary. Nowhere is it stated that the impact of the law is still uncertain until the INS issues regulations. 

The cable describes changes in counting H1Bs; exemptions from the count; changes in how immigrant visas are allocated; H1B portability; ability to extend H1B status beyond six years in certain circumstances; extension of requirements under ACWIA (the 1998 H1B law); and recovery of H1B numbers when a case is revoked due to fraud.

The DOS is taking the law at face value in its summary; yet, as DOS has recognized in other contexts, the INS has broad authority to interpret and administer immigration laws within the U.S. (See, for example, the discussion of "dual track" processing in the December 1, 2000 MurthyBulletin report on the AILA/DOS liaison meeting http://www.murthy.com/UDnovusds.html.) Therefore, it is likely that the DOS will consider whatever interpretation is set forth by the INS in its regulations to be binding on the DOS as well.