NK_123 Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Hi, I completed my Master's Degree (April 2016) from a school which is accredited to ACICS. Today I heard that court is going to terminate ACICS permanently. I already have my initial OPT with me. My question is 1.) If I do another master's from an public university I won't get new OPT because I do have my initial OPT so,am I eligible for STEM extension from my initial OPT college (passed out on April 2016) or from my new Master's college will USCIS consider this scenario? I appreciate if anyone could provide me relevant reply. Thanks, Nihar. Link to comment
JoeF Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 ACICS is not a recognized accreditor anymore. They are suing against that, and that is still ongoing. Yesterday's ruling was about a preliminary injunction, which was denied, so they continue to not be recognized anymore. I personally doubt their lawsuit will be successful, because they "accredited" a bunch of shady institution which never should have been accredited. But in any case, that's for the courts to decide. You can't get OPT or OPT STEM for another Masters degree. You should have signed up with a public university from the beginning... Link to comment
NK_123 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 Thank you for the response. Currently, I didn't use 12 months of my initial OPT. So, is their any kind of possibility to transfer my OPT to F1 and then after completing my 2nd Master's can I apply for OPT or STEM any chance to do so? Link to comment
JoeF Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 No. OPT is part of the F1, so there is no "transfer OPT to F1." When using OPT, you still ARE in F1 status. And once OPT is used, it is used, even if you have used it for less than a year. Link to comment
NK_123 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 Thank you for the clarification. One more question: What if i considering joining in Ph.D ? 1) After completion of my Ph.D, am i eligible to apply for OPT as its a different stream ? 2) Which category I fall under when I am applying for H1 after Ph.D? Please help. I am trying to check all the possibilities I have right now and I agree I should have signed up in a Public University in the beginning it self. But I didn't know the issues with Private University :( :( and now I am stuck. Thanks, NK Link to comment
JoeF Posted February 24, 2017 Report Share Posted February 24, 2017 You can get another OPT when you do a higher degree. A PhD, though, is a completely different beast from a Masters. You'd be doing research 24/7 for 5+ years. You eat, drink and sleep your research. If the PhD is in a STEM field, you of course can get the STEM extension (if it still exists at that point, with the current wannabe dictator President, one never knows.) And of course, the jobs you'd go for if you have a PhD are different. Friends of mine with PhDs in CS either went to academia, i.e. faculty positions, or to top-level companies like Google, Intel, Microsoft, etc. Link to comment
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