• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Changing to H1 from F1

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

preetideo

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?
NJ
Hello,

I am a masters student on F1 visa and currently working on OPT. My OPT expires in June 2007. If my employer files for my H1 in a couple of months I will be fine as I will get my H1 till October 06 and still my OPT runs till June 07.

The problem is if the quoto for this year finishes up, I have to wait till next April to file my H1. Now the problem is my OPT is till June 07 so from June 07 to Oct 07 I will be out of status. I am aware of 60 days grace period which makes me legal till August 07. But will it be illegal to stay in this country from August to October. I am 100% sure that my H1 will be filed before my OPT expires. I heard something about the cap gap rule which allows students to stay in the gap period between the expiration of the OPT and the H1 issue date. I would appreciate your help. Are their any options I can explore to avoid this? I am married and my husband is on H1 . I entered this country on H4 visa and then got school admission and converted it to F1. Can I convert my visa back to H4 during my out of status period? But that again confuses me as I would have filed already for H1 so how could I convert my status for 2 months on H4?
 


ImmigAttyLana

Senior Member
The cap-gap rule is something that has to be authorized from year to year by the USCIS. It has not done so this year or the past year so it is unknown and probably unlikely that it will happen next year.


Lana
Immigration Attorney
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top