OPT, H1b and pregnancy

[sastrykvp]

Hey All,

Hey All,

I need some advise regarding my wife's current immigration situation.

She did her Master's here in the USA. She is currently on her 12 months OPT and working for a company. Her OPT is going to expire on August 27th. We applied for her 17 month STEM OPT extension which is not approved yet. In the mean time, her company applied for her H1B FY2012(Starting Oct1 2012) which is also not approved yet. Now, she is pregnant with due date as Dec 2012. Due to some complications, we have decided that she needs to take a break for the rest of her pregnancy. Her company is fine with putting her on short term disability/ unpaid leave for the rest of the way.

I have a few questions in this regard.

1. If she goes on unpaid vacation, would this affect her OPT extension/H1B approval?

2. Even though her H1b is approved, can she continue to stay on her STEM OPT for 17 months from August 2012 and then go on H1b once it is expired?

3. How does short term disability/FMLA work for me in this situation.

Please let me know your recommendations.

Thanks!

Thank you!