Fired Because I am on my CPT

[Shilp]

Hello, I wanted some suggestion regarding a situation.

So I was hired by a staffing agency to work for a company on temp basis on my CPT and was converted to full time by the company. Since when you are on your CPT, you need to get a Co-op document signed which is submitted to the university to receive work authorization. When I went to the HR to get this document signed she was not aware that I was on my CPT and she did not know what CPT is, on the other hand, my staffing agency knew about it from day 1. 

Since my I9 was not completed with the company which converted me to full time (because they did not sign the co-op and I did not submit it to the university to get work authorization) I was asked to leave work on personal leave by the HR so that she could further discuss with her seniors. its been 2 weeks and I have not heard back from them. I wanted to know if its legal to fire me because I was on my CPT when my staffing company knew about it from the day I joined.

Please advise as to what can I do in this situation. I am on my F1 visa right now.

I wanted to know if they can fire me just because they did not know about me being on CPT even though the employment is at will basis and what are my options?

[xTDx]

There is a possibility that your staffing agency lied to the end client that you have CPT. They would probably have lied that you have a EAD. This is all a theory and I  have seen it happen more often than not. Technically you are not authorized to work in USA without CPT authorization for the specific employer and they can fire you for not having work authorization. 

You should in parallel look for another employer who can hire you as an intern on CPT. There is quite a possibility that your CPT was not related to your studies in the first place. I would suggest you to consult a immigration and a labour lawyer about your case.

[JoeF]

CPT is for required internships. It can never be with a staffing agency for some arbitrary job. Your CPT was illegal.

And it can generally not be fulltime, since you have to continue to be enrolled in classes.

And with the new rules in place from today, you could be in a lot of trouble.

Concentrate on your studies.

 

[Shilp]

On 8/8/2018 at 1:39 PM, Shilp said:

Hello, I wanted some suggestion regarding a situation.

So I was hired by a staffing agency to work for a company on temp basis on my CPT and was converted to full time by the company. Since when you are on your CPT, you need to get a Co-op document signed which is submitted to the university to receive work authorization. When I went to the HR to get this document signed she was not aware that I was on my CPT and she did not know what CPT is, on the other hand, my staffing agency knew about it from day 1. 

Since my I9 was not completed with the company which converted me to full time (because they did not sign the co-op and I did not submit it to the university to get work authorization) I was asked to leave work on personal leave by the HR so that she could further discuss with her seniors. its been 2 weeks and I have not heard back from them. I wanted to know if its legal to fire me because I was on my CPT when my staffing company knew about it from the day I joined.

Please advise as to what can I do in this situation. I am on my F1 visa right now.

I wanted to know if they can fire me just because they did not know about me being on CPT even though the employment is at will basis and what are my options?

 

11 hours ago, JoeF said:

CPT is for required internships. It can never be with a staffing agency for some arbitrary job. Your CPT was illegal.

And it can generally not be fulltime, since you have to continue to be enrolled in classes.

And with the new rules in place from today, you could be in a lot of trouble.

Concentrate on your studies.

 

Well I have been attending classes and working as well and my job was not arbitrary, I was working on my CPT with legal documents and the work I am doing is directly related to what I am studying. Well according to USCIS, you can work on CPT for 40 hours but not less than 20 hours. They signed my co-op agreement so I am fine:)

[JoeF]

6 hours ago, Shilp said:

 

Well I have been attending classes and working as well and my job was not arbitrary, I was working on my CPT with legal documents and the work I am doing is directly related to what I am studying. Well according to USCIS, you can work on CPT for 40 hours but not less than 20 hours. They signed my co-op agreement so I am fine:)

Working for a staffing agency means an arbitrary job, by definition. The staffing agency provides you with some arbitrary job which means the job has no connection to a class, which is required for CPT.

You have been abusing CPT. And the u"university" signing off on it doesn't mean much. Back in 2011, the fake "university" TVU approved CPT for work at 7-11. People got ankle bracelets or got deported...

[xTDx]

On 8/9/2018 at 7:58 PM, Shilp said:

 

Well I have been attending classes and working as well and my job was not arbitrary, I was working on my CPT with legal documents and the work I am doing is directly related to what I am studying. Well according to USCIS, you can work on CPT for 40 hours but not less than 20 hours. They signed my co-op agreement so I am fine:)

You do not have to convince your case to anyone here. 

[Provence]

On 8/17/2018 at 1:49 PM, xTDx said:

You do not have to convince your case to anyone here. 

True..

..but begs the ques, why is the OP on this site if s/he has no interest in heeding advice? 

[satya2k1]

I don't think anyone on this forum is obligated to take members' response/advice and act on it.  This forum is mostly for informational purpose only.. and learn latest hurdles in H1, H4, F1, CPT, OPT that many in similar situations are facing these days.

 

[JoeF]

8 hours ago, satya2k1 said:

I don't think anyone on this forum is obligated to take members' response/advice and act on it.  This forum is mostly for informational purpose only.. and learn latest hurdles in H1, H4, F1, CPT, OPT that many in similar situations are facing these days.

 

Of course not. They are all adults, and responsible for their actions all by themselves. Smart people do listen to the advice, though. But if the OP prefers to get deported...

I've seen this happen again and again: 1. Person A asks, "Can I do x?" 2. People here, like me, say "No, that's not allowed." 3. Person A says, "Thanks, but I do x anyway." 4. 6 months later, person A posts "I did x, now I'm in big trouble." 5. "We told you so."...