Legal Question in Immigration Law in Washington

Before completion of my masters, I applied for OPT EAD and got approved. I got job offer & employer-A filed H1b under regular cap. But due to some personal issues, I couldn't complete masters. I applied for dependent visa F2. After that my SEVIS record was terminated. Employer-A revoked job offer. I got another job from employer-B and they filed H1b transfer. H1b was approved with auto status change from F1 to H1B valid from Oct 1, 2013. Employer-B advised me to join the company before Oct 1, 2013 saying since USCIS approved auto status change from F1 to H1B, I am still in valid F1 status. I joined the company in August 2013. Now, I have to get my H-1B stamping done. Will there be issue in H1B stamping since I worked on OPT for couple of months? What should I do to avoid any complications?


Asked on 3/16/14, 8:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Marlene Hemmings Marlene Hemmings, Attorney at Law

Although you should be consulting with the attorney who filed your I-129 petition(s), based on the information you have provided, if you lawfully worked on OPT before you changed status to F-2, then there should not be a problem.

However, once your change of status from F-1 to F-2 was approved, you were no longer authorized to work with the OPT that had been previously approved.

Also, you should not have worked in H-1B status until October 1st, which was the start of the H-1B visa validity period. So, if you were not in valid OPT status in August & September, then you would have been working without authorization, which could potentially raise some questions.

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Answered on 3/17/14, 10:35 am


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