Greetings,
I have a situation here. My OPT grace period expired on April 11,2009. My employer filed for my H1B with a Change of Status request. Per my form I-797B, my H1b petition was filed on April 07, 2009 and the receipt date was April 15, 2009. My cap-gap extension request was filed by my DSO on April 10, 2009 which was granted and my DSO was able to print out a cap-gap extension I-20 which was valid until June 02, 2009 ( I am currently under my 60 days grace period which will expire on August 01, 2009). On April 12, 2009 my SEVIS automatically completed my status which resulted in the denial of my Change of Status request filed with USCIS. Although my H1b was approved for counselor processing.
So, in order to reinstate my SEVIS status to ACTIVE my DSO raised a data-fix ticket with the SEVIS helpdesk. A helpdesk official told my DSO that my status could not be reinstated since my H1b was received on April 15, 2009 i.e. after the expiration of my OPT 60 days grace period (I am confused whether they should consider the date on which the petition was filed or the receipt date). Anyway, my DSO still went ahead and opened a ticket with SEVIS helpdesk on June 26, 2009. My DSO also faxed a letter to the helpdesk official explaining him the whole situation. It is been close to a month and my DSO has not heard anything from SEVIS Helpdesk. In the meanwhile, I applied to another University for a masters program and I have gotten an admission approval from the university, the session begins on Aug 24, 2009. However, the university told me that I would have to apply for Change of Status since my old status is completed and I am no more on F1.
Now I have couple of questions:
1. How likely am I to get my SEVIS back to Active status again?
2. Am i eligible for Change of Status as this point of time as i am in my cap-gap extension 60 days grace period which will expire on Aug 01,2009?
I would really appreciate any input or insight that you may have in respect to my situation. Please help I am dealing with a crisis right now. Don't know what to do.
Thanks for your time
CS
I have a situation here. My OPT grace period expired on April 11,2009. My employer filed for my H1B with a Change of Status request. Per my form I-797B, my H1b petition was filed on April 07, 2009 and the receipt date was April 15, 2009. My cap-gap extension request was filed by my DSO on April 10, 2009 which was granted and my DSO was able to print out a cap-gap extension I-20 which was valid until June 02, 2009 ( I am currently under my 60 days grace period which will expire on August 01, 2009). On April 12, 2009 my SEVIS automatically completed my status which resulted in the denial of my Change of Status request filed with USCIS. Although my H1b was approved for counselor processing.
So, in order to reinstate my SEVIS status to ACTIVE my DSO raised a data-fix ticket with the SEVIS helpdesk. A helpdesk official told my DSO that my status could not be reinstated since my H1b was received on April 15, 2009 i.e. after the expiration of my OPT 60 days grace period (I am confused whether they should consider the date on which the petition was filed or the receipt date). Anyway, my DSO still went ahead and opened a ticket with SEVIS helpdesk on June 26, 2009. My DSO also faxed a letter to the helpdesk official explaining him the whole situation. It is been close to a month and my DSO has not heard anything from SEVIS Helpdesk. In the meanwhile, I applied to another University for a masters program and I have gotten an admission approval from the university, the session begins on Aug 24, 2009. However, the university told me that I would have to apply for Change of Status since my old status is completed and I am no more on F1.
Now I have couple of questions:
1. How likely am I to get my SEVIS back to Active status again?
2. Am i eligible for Change of Status as this point of time as i am in my cap-gap extension 60 days grace period which will expire on Aug 01,2009?
I would really appreciate any input or insight that you may have in respect to my situation. Please help I am dealing with a crisis right now. Don't know what to do.
Thanks for your time
CS