H1b Approval Consular Processing and restoration of STEM OPT

[ht1102]

Hello everyone,

I  was working with company A which filed my H-1b in 2019 (Master's cap).

The employment was discontinued and H1b was approved a few days after the discontinuation of employment.

Joined company B on STEM OPT in August (cap-gap extension was active and stem OPT valid until 2021). Company A submitted the withdrawal in September 2019. However, due to automatic Change of Status kicking in from Oct 1, STEM OPT was inactive.

Now the company B filed H-1b transfer(consular processing after Oct 1) and it got approved. I also received revocation notice/withdrawal approval for Company A's petition.

Questions:

1. Should I restore STEM OPT by submitting the revocation notice as a part of the SEVP data fix?

2. In order to activate the H1b status,  should I get the data fix done prior to scheduling the visa interview at the foreign country consulate?

3. Is it necessary to file a new amendment H1b petition in 2020(after completing the data fix first) and then go for stamping after obtaining approval.

 

Thank you! Any kind of insight/advice is greatly appreciated. 

[shekar11#]

On 1/3/2020 at 2:52 AM, ht1102 said:

Hello everyone,

I  was working with company A which filed my H-1b in 2019 (Master's cap).

The employment was discontinued and H1b was approved a few days after the discontinuation of employment.

Joined company B on STEM OPT in August (cap-gap extension was active and stem OPT valid until 2021). Company A submitted the withdrawal in September 2019. However, due to automatic Change of Status kicking in from Oct 1, STEM OPT was inactive.

Now the company B filed H-1b transfer(consular processing after Oct 1) and it got approved. I also received revocation notice/withdrawal approval for Company A's petition.

Questions:

1. Should I restore STEM OPT by submitting the revocation notice as a part of the SEVP data fix?

2. In order to activate the H1b status,  should I get the data fix done prior to scheduling the visa interview at the foreign country consulate?

3. Is it necessary to file a new amendment H1b petition in 2020(after completing the data fix first) and then go for stamping after obtaining approval.

 

Thank you! Any kind of insight/advice is greatly appreciated. 

1. I don't think you can restore STEM OPT once it is gone.

2. You can just go out of country and come back with H-1 visa stamp.

3. Consult your employer's attorney.

[ht1102]

Thanks for your response @shekar11#. By restoring I meant, re-activating SEVIS record.  

Since the first time, H1b filed by employer A was withdrawn before Oct 1 and employer B filed another H1b petition through Consular Processing, can there be a question raised during the visa interview regarding this petition being a cap-subject petition? Looking forward to learning this process and knowing the correct facts. 

[User099]

Talk to you DSO and get the data fix done. You can do a data fix in your case as withdrawal was submitted before Oct 1st and COS should not have gone through.

It's better to come back to F1 status before you leave the country for stamping. I am thinking data fix should not take long.

I replied to your other post.

[Sam.kote]

Hi I am in a similar situation with O1 visa. My stem is inactive eventhough it is a consular process. I’ve given my DSO the Copy of my EAD card and my i797B. How long did it take to get it resolved?