H1-B Visa Consular Processing (I797-B) and F-1 60 days grace period - what's my status now?

[Praveen Tata]

Hello,

I need help in figuring out for how long I can legally stay in the USA.

Here is my situation:

1) I was working on STEM OPT for Employer A.

2) My H1-B visa got approved from Employer A with Consular Processing (I797-B) - I-94 was not updated.

3) I had to leave Employer A because my STEM OPT expired on 06/25/2020.

4) I found Employer B who filed for H1-B Visa transfer and a Change of Status (COS) which could change my status from F-1 to H1-B and update my I-94.

5) Employer B filed my application with Premium Processing and I received an RFE.

 

In the above situation, I have the following questions:

1) What's my current status? (I am assuming it is still F-1).

2) For how many days can I stay in the USA legally? (If the status is still F-1, then it will be 60 days from 06/25/2020).

3) What other options do I have to stay in the country legally?

4) I know working on CPT is an option, but given the circumstances and with my expired F-1 visa, can I still get into this and make it work?

Edited July 17, 2020 by Praveen Tata