U.S. Hits H-1B Visa Cap For Fiscal 2007U.S. Hits H-1B Visa Cap For Fiscal 2007

As Congress fights over details for comprehensive immigration reform, the United States on Thursday hit the cap on the 65,000 H-1B visas that will be issued for fiscal 2007, beginning Oct. 1.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service began accepting petitions for the visas on April 1. Today the USCIS said it had received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap of 65,000 H-1B visas, which is the primary visa used for foreign-born technology professionals to work in the United States.

Last fiscal year, the H-1B cap was hit in August, and the year before, the cap was reached on Oct. 1, 2004--the first day of fiscal 2005.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have approved their own immigration reform bills that would raise the current H-1B cap to 115,000, the level in 1999. But because the Senate and House don't agree on many other hot-button issues in immigration reform, it's unlikely the ceiling on H-1B will be raised anytime soon.

Separate legislation focusing only on certain green-card processing and H-1B visa issues, including raising the H-1B cap to 115,000, was introduced in the Senate a few weeks ago by Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.). But pundits say the passage of that bill is unlikely because many members of Congress have their hearts set on passing broader immigration reform legislation, rather than carving out a bill that covers only niche issues.

Congress last year created an exemption from the H-1B cap for 20,000 foreign nationals earning advanced degrees from U.S. universities. But that exemption cap was reached only four months into fiscal 2006. Some tech industry lobbyists expect that cap will be reached for fiscal 2007 before the fiscal year begins.