A Post-Mortem On Fiscal 2007 H-1B Count

Questions are pouring in asking how it could be
that on May 25th USCIS indicated that there were as many as 12,000 H-1B
quota numbers available, and on May 26th, there were none. As of
Wednesday morning, June 1st, USCIS had just finished data-entering
cases that were received on May 25th, and began data-entering cases
received on May 26th. During the entry of May 26th cases, the cap was
reached, making it appear that 12,000 cases arrived overnight.

AILA has inquired into this oddity, and it appears that the problem
lies in the processing of filings by the USCIS at the VSC. When the
USCIS went to Bi-Specialization filing effective April 1, 2006, VSC was
unable to handle the volume of cases it was receiving, because all
I-129 case types were to be sent to the VSC, leading to data-entry and
receipting backlogs from early on. VSC data-entry and receipting
remained backlogged, leading to the lag between delivery of a petition
to VSC and its entry into the system. As USCIS updated its cap-count
reports, the volume of cases sent to VSC increased, further
contributing to the backlog in data-entry and receipting. The cap count
reports posted by USCIS failed to mention that not all cases received
had been input into the system, and that thus the counts did not
include all cases received as of the report dates. Ultimately, the
combination of the existing backlog in data entry and the volume of new
cases delivered last week made it appear that 12,000 cases arrived
overnight.