CPT to H1B

[PacmanKX]

Hi guys,

I have a Master's degree from a State University and I used OPT which expired at the middle of 2016. I'm currently enrolled as a Doctorate student at the same university. Me and my professor agreed to work on CPT for the first one semester or two because he cannot fund me with any assistantships temporarily and I've worked for more than 1 month by now. However I'm now considering jump to find a job and discontinue my current study. I've read a bunch of posts in this forum and I'm worrying that whether I'm abusing CPT or not. I found most cases use a CPT on a MBA or similar program at institutes like TVU and that's a sign of CPT abuse. My case, I'm on CPT on a legit degree program at a legit State University and my professor has provided a letter to DSO as the evidence that the CPT job is an integral part of the established Doctorate curriculum. Am I killing my future in the US? I'm nervous.

Thanks!

[Iumair85]

Hi.i came to us on f1 visa for MS degree. I completed my degree and started working on OPT. I was granted 29 month of OPT and I was not lucky enough to get selected in lottery and then joined college and started working on CPT from day1.I have heard people say not to use CPT but this year not only my H1B selected but also my change of status approved.I am now working on H1B.there is a guy JOEF on Murthy blogs,he wil always discourage you not to use CPT.i know many of my friends and even I am example of using CPT from day1 and now working on H1B.

[rahul412]

Just wait, you will know result of working in CPT. It took years for govt to track CPT abuse, same goes here.

If you can work on CPT then why you need H1? If both are same then why they have two programs?

[JoeF]

Legitimate CPT is very rare. Nowadays, it is always a red flag, due to abuse by fraud institutions. Just a few days ago ICE revoked the SEVP approval of a notorious fraud university in California, because of their practice of issuing CPT from day one. Another notorious university in San Jose got a letter of intent to revoke their SEVP approval, for the same reason.

For a doctorate, CPT does not seem to be an integral part of the curriculum. Does the professor require all his students to do internships? Or is it just for you, just because there is no funding? The latter would be abuse of CPT.

As for the second post, while one examiner may have used discretion to approve your H1, another examiner, e.g., for H1 extension, or for an I-140, could come to a different conclusion. There is no statute of limitation on immigration fraud.

It generally is best to avoid CPT completely, even if it appears legit. At best, it invites RFEs, at worst denials.