Published October 10, 2013
This article is a continuation of last week's article discussing the issues you should be aware of when applying for and utilizing OPT. Finding a suitable job opportunity in the U.S. has become an option for many international students. If you want to stay in the U.S., you have to switch to another legal status before or after the end of your OPT.
For those who have an employer who is willing to apply for H-1B for you, they are faced with the question of how they can maintain their legal status all the time when the H-1B application is filed and while waiting for the result of H-1B approval. Here we specifically categorize three situations:
OPT expires between April 1 and October 1: If your OPT expires on, let's say, May 20, but your employer filed an H-1B petition in April and it was approved, your student status and work authorization will be automatically extended until September 30
OPT expires 60 days prior to the filing of the H-1B petition on April 1: If you are a graduate in a STEM discipline, you can maintain your legal status while your H-1B petition is pending approval by extending your OPT for 17 months. If you are a non-STEM graduate, because there is a 60-day Grace Period after OPT expires, you may be able to legally reside in the U.S. pending the outcome of your H-1B petition if your prospective employer can file the petition on April 1 within that 60-day period. However, since OPT lapses before the H-1B petition is filed, you may legally reside in the U.S. pending the outcome of the H-1B petition, but you may not continue to work in the U.S.
OPT expires 60 days prior to the filing of the April 1 H-1B petition: If your OPT internship expired before February, in order to ensure that you will still be in legal status when your employer files the April 1 H-1B petition, you must either find a school to continue your F-1 status, or switch to another legal status. For those who did not find a suitable employer or did not apply for an H-1B visa, you must consider switching to another status in advance during your OPT period. For OPT graduates in STEM disciplines, your OPT can be extended for an additional 17 months after the one-year expiration date, up to a maximum of 29 months. Therefore, OPT graduates in STEM disciplines can apply for an extension of their OPT after the 12-month OPT expiration date in order to wait until next year to apply for an H1B. For students whose OPT has expired and who are unable to apply for an extension of their OPT, they may choose to continue attending school to maintain their F-1 status in order to wait for the opportunity to apply for an H-1B next year. For OPT students with spouses, you can also convert your status to a dependent visa such as F-2, H4, J-2, L-2, etc. so that you will have the opportunity to apply for an H1B the following year. of course, you can also consider other visa categories such as O, R, E, Immigrant Investor, etc.
To summarize, students should pay close attention to their status during the OPT period. Since the H-1B quota has been very tight in recent years, even if a student finds an employer to apply for OPT for him/her, there may be a situation where there is no quota or the application is not approved. Therefore, international students, should arrange their legal status in the U.S. in advance.
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