Washington: Facing pressure from the anti-immigration lobby, the US would restrict entry of the foreign IT workers, including from India, to the country.

Based upon fiscal year beginning October 1, 2003, "first quarter tabulation of the H-1B databases, the total number of H1B cap case approvals and those pending in the queue for adjudication account for 43,500 that could count against the H-1B cap for fiscal 2004", the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement.

The cap for 2004 and future years - unless Congress changes its mind - has been placed at 65,000 against the temporary surge of 195,000 a year in fiscal 2001, 2002 and 2003, it said.

The number was reduced due to pressure from the anti-immigrant lobby as the H1B visas are used by professional from countries like India, Brazil and other developing countries which are able to meet shortages in skilled IT and other technical personnel in the US.

The US economy is now picking up while the propaganda by anti-immigrant groups against outsourcing and import of technical personnel has intensified.

There is a similar outcry against immigration in general. Some members of his Republican party have written letters to President George W Bush and the Speaker of the House of Representatives protesting the "guest worker" programme.

The Democrats on the other hand have proposed a more liberal regime. They favour giving the 8 to 12 million estimated illegal immigrants in the US legal residency which is the stepping stone to citizenship.