apply for green card while on OPT

[seamariners]

Hi,

I am an international student currently on OPT. I am working full time for a company at the moment and my OPT will expire in June 2011. I'm going to get married in Dec 2010, and my future wife, who is a US citizen, will apply for my green card right after the wedding. I remember my school counselor told me that my OPT will be terminated when I change my status from F-1 student visa to green card. Does that mean I will have to stop working after my wife sends the application to sponsor me? I heard that it usually takes 3 to 4 months for me to receive a new work permit card ( better than the OPT card I have right now). Does that mean I won't be able to work during those 3,4 months, even though the expired date on my OPT is June 2011?

Please let me know. Thanks much.

 

[Jackolantern]

I remember my school counselor told me that my OPT will be terminated when I change my status from F-1 student visa to green card. Does that mean I will have to stop working after my wife sends the application to sponsor me?

Merely applying for the green card won't terminate your OPT*.

I heard that it usually takes 3 to 4 months for me to receive a new work permit card ( better than the OPT card I have right now). Does that mean I won't be able to work during those 3,4 months, even though the expired date on my OPT is June 2011?

No. You would only have to stop working if your OPT expires or is invalidated before your new employment card or green card is approved. As long as you stick to the terms of the OPT (don't be unemployed for 90 days, don't work in an unrelated field, etc.), and you don't tell the school to terminate your SEVIS record, the OPT will remain valid until it expires.


*but leaving the US while the I-485 is pending would effectively terminate your F-1 and OPT, so don't leave the US before your new employment card and Advance Parole are approved.