fail to graduate in time afer OPT got approved!!! urgent help please!!

A

activeman

Registered Users (C)
hello all,
Originally I plan to graduate in Fall 2006 semester, so I applied for optional practical training (OPT) in Oct. 2006 and got approved in Dec. 2006. If I want to officially graduate, I need to submit my thesis by the Jan. 9 2007 deadline (this is a deadline set by the graduate school from the academic point of view, nothing immigration-wise). Since supposably I will graduate in the fall 2006 semester, my I-20 expired on 12/20/2006 (the last day of our fall semester) and my OPT starts on 12/21/2006. However, I failed to meet the Jan 9th academic deadline, in other words, I was not able to submit my thesis before Jan 9th 2007. So what situation am I in now? Am I out of status? My I-20 expired but I got my OPT approved. I have completed all coursework requirement and the only thing left is to submit my thesis (I couldn't do this now because the committee professors want me to do some revisions). My guess is that my OPT cannot be considered valid since I have not officially graduated or completed the academic requirements. However, once I finish revising my thesis and submit it to the graduate school, i.e., meet the academic requirement, am I off the hook totally? Can I use my OPT to work full time by then?

Right now, I am not sure what status I'm in because my I-20 exipred but my OPT got approved. I have completed all the coursework except submitting the thesis, which can be done in the very near future. Am I out of status? Please advise!! If there are any regulations or policies or cases like this, please kindly let me know. This is an urgent situation because I may be forced to leave this country. Any advice is appreciated. Please post on this borad!! Or you can send email to me at greenboy21@gmail.com

best regards,
activeman
 
Best would be to go talk to your international office. But go there personally, don't make a phone call. Phone calls don't work (I have experience with 2 Int Offices in two different universities!!) They will help you sort out the mess. I don't think you are out of status, I think you are loosing valuable OPT time.
 
You did defend the thesis, right? Also, another suggestion - my graduate school was quite flexible in terms of the thesis submission date. After several conversations with them it turned out that they had like a month in reserve which they did not announce so people do not procastinate!! Did you check that?
 
Thank you very much for reply. I haven't checked the graduate school deadline in terms of if there is some flexibility. But it looks like they are pretty stubborn.
I did hold the defense and I got a conditional pass, which means I need to revise the thesis so that the professor can sign and then I can submit to the graduate school. Our university is close for the winter break and one of the professor is in another state. All factors caused the revision process to be long and tedious so that I miss the deadline to submit the thesis. What I hope to occur is that when I finish the revisions of my thesis and submit it to the graduate school, I can use my approved OPT to work full time. But an advisor from our international office told me that I am out of status and need to apply for reinstatement. I don't want to do this because that process may take a few months to have a decision and there is risk of being declined. I will meet the associate director and the director of our international office next friday, how can I convince to them that I am not out of status, all I need is to submit my thesis so that I can work full time using my OPT without applying for reinstatement?
thanks a lot.
 
you are still in status, since Master's students are eligible for a pre-completion OPT - that is, all classwork done but thesis is not. I know it, I was in the same situation - I went on OPT before even defending my thesis (I still didn't defend it).

P.S. You don't have to post your question in all of the forums.


http://international.missouri.edu/isss/students-f1/opt/faq.shtml#2
When can I use my OPT? Eligible F-1 students may engage in optional practical training for a total of 12 months:

After completion of a course of study (Undergraduate and Graduate students)
After completion of all course requirements if engaged in thesis or dissertation research (Graduate students only)
While school is in session, provided that it does not exceed 20 hours per week in any given week while school is in session (deducted from the 12-month maximum at a proportional rate of 50%)
During the summer or winter break of the regular academic year
 
Thanks Lucy, I heard the terms of "pre-completion" and "post-completion" of OPT. My question is, are these terms used by us in daily conversations for easy communications or are they legislatively defined by the immigration service center? In other words, when applying for the OPT, are there seperate paperwork to apply for pre- and post-completion OPT? or on the paper work is there a box to check indicating that this is a pre- or post-completion OPT? When I filled out the form I-765, there was no such question. An OPT is an OPT, it doesn't discriminate legislatively it's a pre- or post-completion OPT, right?
 
You need to clear this with your international office, because I think your problem is not with the immigration but with the university. My recolection is that you cannot graduate if you are not in student status (with valid I20). It had something to do with the statute of limitations, not the OPT. Sorry I cannot provide more information.
 
activeman said:
Thanks Lucy, I heard the terms of "pre-completion" and "post-completion" of OPT. My question is, are these terms used by us in daily conversations for easy communications or are they legislatively defined by the immigration service center? In other words, when applying for the OPT, are there seperate paperwork to apply for pre- and post-completion OPT? or on the paper work is there a box to check indicating that this is a pre- or post-completion OPT? When I filled out the form I-765, there was no such question. An OPT is an OPT, it doesn't discriminate legislatively it's a pre- or post-completion OPT, right?
Click to expand...

it's not about the legislature. Your international center would look at your academic status, and approve or disapprove your application for OPT before you can even send it to USCIS.

If you are undergraduate, and are not going to graduate this semester, they will not approve your application. If you are a graduate student, they will look at whether you have finished your classwork and have all but thesis/dissertation completed. If yes, they'll approve your application, you'd apply for OPT EAD, you'd get it and your I-20 will be annotated on the 3rd page with an extension. The expiration date on your I-20's first page will remain unchanged, even if it already "expired". Do talk to the director of your INternational center and tell him it's your precompletion OPT because you are still engaged in thesis research. You got your OPT and that's all that matters. You are in F-1 status until it expires.

If you need more, try to find which CFT article refers to OPT and research it. Good luck!
 
hey there

Hi, I know this thread is old but I'm having the exact same problem activeman, and I was wondering if you faced any problems or had to do anything (ie. submit new forms?)???

My thesis deadline is Jan 15th but I really doubt I will be able to make it, thus I really hope this would not be a problem for my OPT. Also, how long did you OPT application take to be processed? Apparently, it is faster during this period as opposed to the summer season. Thanks any information would be MUCH appreciated!
 
OPT takes about 2-3 month at the moment until you get the card back. If you have applied for Jan 15th start date, your OPT will start Jan 15th and you can't take it back. However, thats not a big problem though. You don't have to work on OPT. You can stay either way and complete your studies (for up to a year). However, the time is lost to you. You will not be able to extend the OPT based on being unable to complete your degree in time.
 
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