ewong94523
New Member
Some facts:
- I'm currently on OPT which expires on Feb 14, 2013..
- Employer willing to sponsor me for H-1B for work starting in Oct 1, 2013
Questions:
1) Am I qualified for the CAP-GAP EXTENSION?
2) I heard that if the employer files H-1B before the end of 60 days grace period (in my case, it's April 14, 2013), then your F-1 will be extended and you can legally stay here but you won't be able to work until Oct 1, 2013. Is this true?
3) I'm thinking of taking classes at a community college ONLY for Spring 2013 (Jan 20 - May 23, 2013) under F-1 status. Suppose my employer files H-1B BEFORE the end of my 60 days grace period and I'm taking classes at the community college for Spring 2013, what happens after the semester ends in may? Can I still legally stay in the U.S. while waiting for Oct 1, 2013 (between the end of may until Oct 1, 2013)?
4) Related to the last question above, what happens if my employer files H-1B AFTER my 60 days grace period ends? Can I still legally stay in the U.S. between end of may until Oct 1, 2013?
Or are questions 3 and 4 going to be irrelevant coz my OPT is going to end earlier than the expiration date since I would need to transfer my OPT to the community college (back to F-1 status)?
So if the semester starts in Jan 20, 2013, I would probably need to transfer my OPT by Jan 5, 2013 at the latest, hence questions 3 and 4 would be irrelevant since I would have to still have OPT for the 60 days grace period to be applicable....
5) Can I even go back to school for just one semester only? Can I do that as an international student even? I asked around and someone said that I could not do that since I would have to drop out or withdraw....
Thing is I'm not sure if I should just work till feb 14, 2013 and not go back to school, then have my employer file h-1b before the end of my 60 days grace period.. my F-1 is going to be extended and I can legally remain here until oct 1, 2013...
or if i should consider going back to college for spring semester only?? it seems that it'd complicate matters more.. and I'm not sure how the transition from F-1 to H-1B will be....
What would be the best thing to do?
Here's a quote from the USCIS web:
"Q7. What if a student’s post-completion OPT has expired and the student is in a valid grace period when an H-1B cap-subject petition is filed on their behalf? It appears that F-1 status would be extended, but would OPT also be extended?
A7. F-1 students who have entered the 60-day grace period are not employment-authorized. Consequently, if an H-1B cap-subject petition is filed on the behalf of a student who has entered the 60-day grace period, the student will receive the automatic cap-gap extension of his or her F-1 status, but will not become employment-authorized (since the student was not employment-authorized at the time H-1B petition was filed, there is no employment authorization to be extended)."
What does "filed" here mean? Is it when they receive the documents and when my employer receives confirmation that USCIS has received the H-1B application? If yes, how long would it take for them to send the confirmation receipt?
Thanks again for all your help!
- I'm currently on OPT which expires on Feb 14, 2013..
- Employer willing to sponsor me for H-1B for work starting in Oct 1, 2013
Questions:
1) Am I qualified for the CAP-GAP EXTENSION?
2) I heard that if the employer files H-1B before the end of 60 days grace period (in my case, it's April 14, 2013), then your F-1 will be extended and you can legally stay here but you won't be able to work until Oct 1, 2013. Is this true?
3) I'm thinking of taking classes at a community college ONLY for Spring 2013 (Jan 20 - May 23, 2013) under F-1 status. Suppose my employer files H-1B BEFORE the end of my 60 days grace period and I'm taking classes at the community college for Spring 2013, what happens after the semester ends in may? Can I still legally stay in the U.S. while waiting for Oct 1, 2013 (between the end of may until Oct 1, 2013)?
4) Related to the last question above, what happens if my employer files H-1B AFTER my 60 days grace period ends? Can I still legally stay in the U.S. between end of may until Oct 1, 2013?
Or are questions 3 and 4 going to be irrelevant coz my OPT is going to end earlier than the expiration date since I would need to transfer my OPT to the community college (back to F-1 status)?
So if the semester starts in Jan 20, 2013, I would probably need to transfer my OPT by Jan 5, 2013 at the latest, hence questions 3 and 4 would be irrelevant since I would have to still have OPT for the 60 days grace period to be applicable....
5) Can I even go back to school for just one semester only? Can I do that as an international student even? I asked around and someone said that I could not do that since I would have to drop out or withdraw....
Thing is I'm not sure if I should just work till feb 14, 2013 and not go back to school, then have my employer file h-1b before the end of my 60 days grace period.. my F-1 is going to be extended and I can legally remain here until oct 1, 2013...
or if i should consider going back to college for spring semester only?? it seems that it'd complicate matters more.. and I'm not sure how the transition from F-1 to H-1B will be....
What would be the best thing to do?
Here's a quote from the USCIS web:
"Q7. What if a student’s post-completion OPT has expired and the student is in a valid grace period when an H-1B cap-subject petition is filed on their behalf? It appears that F-1 status would be extended, but would OPT also be extended?
A7. F-1 students who have entered the 60-day grace period are not employment-authorized. Consequently, if an H-1B cap-subject petition is filed on the behalf of a student who has entered the 60-day grace period, the student will receive the automatic cap-gap extension of his or her F-1 status, but will not become employment-authorized (since the student was not employment-authorized at the time H-1B petition was filed, there is no employment authorization to be extended)."
What does "filed" here mean? Is it when they receive the documents and when my employer receives confirmation that USCIS has received the H-1B application? If yes, how long would it take for them to send the confirmation receipt?
Thanks again for all your help!