H1b not accepted :(

[cmn0548]

What is the name of your state? tx

Hey Lana,

I got the news that my H1b is not selected this year in the lottery system. as you said I have 2 options, back to school or back home (which i have no use of my degree is i do this)

if i go to community college (i have to pay for school myself) can i apply for the h1b next year after my f-1 is issued? do i have to finish my degree I am in to apply for my h1? i already have my bachelors that is relevant to my work -mechanical engineering (from the university of texas).

thanks lana!

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

Yes, if you have at least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent and it is related to the work you would be doing, you can apply for a H-1B visa next year. I am sorry you were not selected in this year's lottery.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or how I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.

 

[cmn0548]

So as I understand it,

I can join a community college enrolling for an associates in buisness, get back on my F1 status before my OPT expires,
goto school, apply for my H-1 WHILE im on my fresh F-1 which i havnt completed (next April) and by October if i get the H1 next year, I can work on my H-1?

question here lies, will they provide an H-1 while my F-1 is still active? Remember I already have my bachelors in engineering from the US (which would pertain to my job) and this F-1 would be for an associates in buisness.

thanks lana, this is a really sad time for me, as I came a long way struggling from my small humble home in sri lanka to be working in the US for a oil company as a mechanical engineer and I dont wanna leave it because of a random selection process.

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

Yes, your H-1B will be approved even if you are still in F-1 status as long as you already have a degree which will serve as the basis for the H-1B petition.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or how I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.

 

[nixone]

Yes, your H-1B will be approved even if you are still in F-1 status as long as you already have a degree which will serve as the basis for the H-1B petition.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or how I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.

cmn0548,
Lana has given you good answer to your question. I would like to add something. She is right about you being able to get (apply) for H1-B from F-1 (that is what I did and I got my H1-B approved--US master's quota), but there is no guarantee that you will get one next year either. What if there will be 200k peole applying for 65K visas? They would have to go with lottery and you know the chances. You may get lucky and I wish you all the best. But I have a suggestion for you. You should try to go for MS degree in some university that you can afford to pay tuition by working part-time and summer work and may able to get scholarship (GA/TA/RA). While you are doing MS, you can apply for H1-B next year. If you get lucky, you can drop out of the MS degree on September 30, 2008 and start working on October 1. If you did not get lucky, you can finish master's degree and apply under US masters quota that will give you much better chance to get an H1-B then from BS degree and faster greencard processing.

Good luck.