My lawyer did not want me to apply for H1b earlier since he said TX INS only take care of cases in the period of 6 months. E.g, My OPT expires in April 2003, and my application for H1b starting dates is April 1st, 2003. I only can apply for H1b around Oct/Nov. If I applied earlier, INS will not care or return. It is ridiculous for INS rule. Now their processing is longer than 6 months and they did not let people apply for application earlier.....