Full time job and CPT

[vinaysb]

Hello,
I am currently doing my PhD in CS. I am more than a year away from graduating. I currently got a full time job offer from a company. In this scenario, can I apply for a CPT and start working for the company. They are willing to do my H1 in March. Does the offer letter need to contain an END date in order to apply for CPT ?

The company wants me to join immediately, so I dont have the time to apply for a pre-graduation OPT.

Any urgent help on this matter will be appreciated.


thanx,

Vinay

 

[LucyMO]

I think it may need to specify the end date of CPT. But you can always be on the safe side and apply for, say, 8 months of CPT or maybe one semester of CPT. That will give you ample time to apply for OPT and use that time to get H1. Just be careful not to accumulate 12 months of full time CPT, since that makes you ineligible for OPT.