Washington: The number of new H-1B Visas to bring skilled workers from abroad, under which thousands have come to the US from India, drops to 65,000 with effect from October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year 2004.

The new cap for the number of Visas drops from the earlier limit of 195,000 set by the US Congress.

There were 18,000 pending H-1B applications in the fiscal year that ended on September 30, which will count against this fiscal year, an Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) official said.

The US issued 79,100 H-1B Visas last fiscal year, much less than the cap. In fiscal 2001, it had issued 163,600 Visas, figures released by 'ComputerWorld' said.

The H-1B Visa is used to bring skilled workers into the US, many of whom are IT workers. The Visa is good for upto six years, although it has to be renewed after three years.

Not counted against the cap are extensions of the Visa and Visas issued that are exempt from the cap, including those for people employed by educational and non-profit research institutions. Those numbers also fell.

In fiscal 2002, the INS issued 215,000 extensions or initial Visas to people working for exempt organisations. It doesn't provide a breakdown between extensions and initial Visas. In 2001, 342,000 Visas in this category were issued.

Congress is expected to see pressure to increase the cap limit from technology groups, but there's a growing and organised movement among unemployed IT workers here against any increase.

PTI