CPT to H1B

prashant_wit

By prashant_wit,
in H1B : General

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prashant_wit Member

prashant_wit

Posted
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I have a question.

My friend was working full time on OPT from Feb 2011. His employer failed to file his H1B petition in time for 2012 quota and now as the quota is over he has to fall back on his OPT. His OPT expires in Feb 2012 and so he'll not be able to work after that even though his employer files for his H1B in April 2012. He has a Masters degree in Management Information Systems, which according to his school does not fall under STEM ( his lawyer is saying that he has a "General Code" on his I20 and so he is eligible for 17 month extension. But school is saying otherwise)

One option he has learned about is to join a school and work on CPT and once his H1B gets approved he can drop out of the school after Oct 2012. Is it legal to do so ? or should he go back to his home country instead? Are their any legal options?

Thanks in advance for your help.

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JoeF Advanced Member

JoeF

Posted
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First, CPT is not for working in an arbitrary job.

Second, CPT is pretty much dead. TVU killed it and **** made sure it stays dead.

Pretty much no real university gives out CPT anymore.

What your friend is trying is abuse of CPT, and that would land him in lots of trouble, up to deportation. Ask the TVU and **** "students"...

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JoeF Advanced Member

JoeF

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Thanks for the reply JoeF! I understand the fact that CPT can not be used for any job unrelated with your studies.

He is actually planning to join an advanced program which is closely related to his job duties.

Even then, it is pretty much impossible to get CPT in the first year. Most real universities don't do CPT at all anymore.

So, again, he should forget CPT. It is not going to work anymore, due to abuse by the likes of TVU and ****.

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JoeF Advanced Member

JoeF

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And another thing: The CPT job would have to be within commuting distance of the university, since he would have to continue attending classes to maintain F1 status.

That pretty much means a consulting job at client sites would not be possible.

He can not just apply at some university far away. On F1, he would have to attend classes in person.

So, once again, it is a bad idea to try this, it would only result in lots and lots of problems.

A better way would be to work remotely for the employer from his home country, if the employer allows that.

Or, if the employer has a branch in his home country, transfer there until an H1 for fiscal year 2013 kicks in.

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prashant_wit Member

prashant_wit

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Thanks a lot for that information Joe !... actually the job location and university was in the same area and hence he was planning on attending the physical classes.... but like you said getting a CPT in first semester seems to be a lot of trouble.

I think he would be better off waiting till the H1B filing starts for 2013, rather than going through all this trouble.

There is one mystery though. He has done his masters in MIS (Mgmt. Information Systems)... his company lawyer is telling him that he is eligible to get 17 month extension to his OPT (according to some code on his I20) but school officials denied saying that his degree is not eligible for OPT extension. He checked for the similar coursework in other universities and seems like other universities are giving OPT extension for similar degrees. So what happens in this matter, does it depends on individual universities to decide upon the OPT extension?

I am sorry for so many questions, but we are little bit confused as the lawyer is saying one thing and school is saying another. We just want to get some information before we decide what’s best course of action is going to be for him

Once again thanks for all your inputs!!

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