F1 to H1B without OPT, but CPT available

[mailneo28]

Hi,

I am on my F1 visa. I came in 2008 for an MS. I graduated in 2009 and accepted a job offer. The company was e-verified so I went on OPT and even extended under STEM extension. But, i wanted to study more, so after 1.5 years working with them, I left the job to join as a student again. I had used up around 9 months of extended OPT. I will graduate by end of 2012 and my F1 visa is expiring in Jan 2013.

What are my options now? Can i directly go from F1 to H1B? Is there any way to get the reminder of the OPT? I also heard about CPT. Can I do full time work in my last semester and be on CPT, as I am taking classes in summer and will only be left with thesis in last semester, which i can manage with work also.

Any information in right direction is highly appreciated?

PS: One of the many reasons of me wanting to work in US is because there are no much jobs of my interest in India and even in US, they really don't have much people in this field(except in academia). So i was hoping that things will work out well.

Any thoughts?

[JoeF]

Forget CPT. That is mostly dead, due to massive abuse by the likes of TVU and ****.

And it is not for working in some arbitrary job, anyway. It is only for work as integral part of the curriculum, and not for work on the side while you write the thesis.