F1(OPT) to H1 stamping question

A

ashu_143

New Member
Im currently on F1(OPT) and got a job offer who are also applying for my H1. I\'m expecting my H1 visa by April 15th 2001, and my OPT expires on May 26th 2001. What i need to know is once i get my H1 where do i get it stamped, does it happen in Washington itself, or do i have to go back to my home country where i got my F1 from to get H1 stamped.

Any information on this will be highly appreciated.
Thanking you in advance
Ashish
 
It depends ...

Dear Ashish,

If you stay within the US from the time your firm applies for your H1 (I-129) till the time INS sends the Notice of Approval (I-797), your status automatically changes from an F1 to an H1. If however, you leave the country between these dates, then your Change of Status is considered null and void, and you will have to exit the country once to get your Passport stamped with the new H1 Visa stamp.

In either case, it won\'t happen automatically - you will either have to go back to your home country to get the Visa stamp, or you could go to a Embassy/Consulate in Canada or Mexico, if they are accepting applications at that time.

Hope that helps - Prashant.
 
Confused !!!

Im a little confused Prashant here, So as per my understanding of what u said. Whether I leave US or dont till i get my H1, I have to get my visa stamp from my home country in either case.

I got my I 797 already during which time I did not leave the country. I only plan do so, if theres a need as u say for getting my visa stamp.

I hope i got this right, please reply for the same
Thanking you
Ashish
 
Your Answers ...

Hi again,

You said in your earlier post that you are expecting your H1 Visa stamp by April 15th, and now you say that you already have your I-797 form with you. The State department wouldn\'t automatically issue you a Visa stamp separately - they will only send I-797 Approval Notice. If you have already received it, then that\'s it - you are in H1 status now (again. provided that you didn\'t leave country during the processing time), and will not receive anything else from them.

Now you have 2 choices to get the H1 Visa stamped in your Passport, which are, either going back to your home country (which is being preferred these days), or go to a Canadian/Mexican Embassy/Consulate, and get the Visa stamp from there. DOS had stopped the Canadian/Mexican Visa processing after 09/11/01, but I believe they have restarted it again now. You can get more information from:

http://www.nvars.com/

Hope that helps - Prashant.
 
thanx with a query

Thanx Prakash, for gr8 piece of information for newbie\'s like myself.
Acutally Im expecting my visa by April 15th, but i have recieved a notice of action from INS saying that I\'ll get my visa by April 15th. And since in the bottom right it said Form I 797 , so i just confused that may be you were talking abou this I 797 form. But i guess I797 is the actual visa that we recieve from INS ..isnt it .

Thanx again
Ashish
 
I797 is any letter recd. from INS

What you got is Receipt notice. What you will get is the approval notice which tells your H1 effective date. Look up the document carefully and you will notice what kind of 797 notice it is...
 
status while waiting for F1 (OPT) to H1B change

My F1 (OPT) expired on Jan 30th. Just before expiration, I found an employer who filed for an H1B visa for me on Jan 27th. I understand that I have two months of "grace period" after OPT expiration to leave the country (in my case, until March 30th). Can I legally stay in US beyound the two month "grace" period (in case my H1B doesn\'t get approved before March 30)? OR do I have to go back to my country and wait for H1B approval there?

I\'d really appreciate a response. Thanks!
 
oversaying F1 visa

You can overstay for as long as the H1B is pending. But make sure you do not start working until you get yout I-797 approval notice with the dates from which you can start working.
 
F1 -> H1 questions

I am in OPT status (will expire on April 2nd). My company is applying H1B visa for me. Because of the bad economy situation, I am afraid that my H1b application will be rejected. In order to keep
my legal status, I got admission of another program in the same University. Here is my questions.

 1. My company will file H1-B application for me this month. If I
apply a new I-20 from the university now (before getting H1B
visa), will the new I-20 will affect my H1B application?

 2. Assume that I got rejection notice from INS after my OPT
expiration date, can I still apply new I-20 and keep
legal status?

Thanks a lot!
 
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