OPT pending since July 31 (student from ITU)

[ontariontari]

I am from *** and applied for OPT on July 31, 2012. I've been waiting for my decision since 161 days. I opened 3 SR's but they sent me an email saying My application is under security check and I need to wait atleast 180 days. Its frustrating me alot, I even approached a reputed attorney but he said he cannot help me in this situation. I checked with some of my other friends, they said some of the *** folks are in similar kind of situation (I am Not sure but the talk is like that when i discussed with some folks from my university).

Here is there anything I can do in this situation? How can I resolve my Issue

I appreciate your help.

Thanks

[JoeF]

That's what you got for signing up with a fake university.

All applications from people at these fakes are under scrutiny.

Why in the world do people still go to these fake institutions???

Forget ***, find a real university, and start all over with your degree.

[ar_prat]

No offence to the original poster but I just have to share my brief encounter with a student from one of these fake univs. I was working at a client site few years back. So this guy was assigned a desk right next to mine. He was awfully quite most of the time. Apparently we are from the same place in India and he started up a conversation. His first question was - "Are you married?". I said "yes".

Him- What does your husband do?

Me -Well he is going back to school and just stared his MBA.

Him- Did he have a problem with his H1?

Me- No, he got admission to an Ivy League univ and he wants to do MBA

Him- What is Ivy league?

Me- It means a very good Univ and his univ is consistently ranked top 5-10 in MBA programs

Him- Ok, so what is your billing rate?

Me- (Hmm, really?). I don't like to discuss my salary

Him- No, I wanted to know how much the client is paying the vendor and how much the vendor is paying you

Me- I don't like to discuss my salary (Grrr!)

Him- After completing my Masters, I joined a consulting firm and he only paid me 70% of the billing rate. tThe employer was greedy

Me- (Just listening quietly and thinking to myself - you don't deserve 70%)

Him- After my project I was on bench for few months and the employer sent me back to India

Me- (No wonder)

Him- Then I came back on F1 and I am doing Phd in computer science

Me- Really, that's nice. Which univ? (I thought getting admission into PhD is super tough. You have to publish some journals and write conference papers before you are eligible to apply for PhD. I was beginning to think perhaps he was not so dumb after all)

Him- *** univ in California

Me- (Never heard of that univ.) So how come you are here? Did you finish ur program?

Him- I am working on CPT since I joined.

Me- Don't you have to attend classes or do research on campus for your PhD?

Him- The univ is full of my people, they will manage.

Me- (Whatever that means!! Hmm, probably means it is a bogus univ like you) Okay, I have to get back to work.

I had ignored this guy completely since then and after a month or 2 he disappeared.He was probably fired. Few months after that I heard about all the Diploma Mill univs in CA and wondered if this guy was from one such univ). Again no offence to the OP. Your case might be different and I hope you are not like the DoucheB I met. Good luck!!

[JoeF]

I had ignored this guy completely since then and after a month or 2 he disappeared.He was probably fired. Few months after that I heard about all the Diploma Mill univs in CA and wondered if this guy was from one such univ).

Likely. After the TVU raid, there was a very-well-researched article in the "Chronicle of Higher Education", which is required reading for basically every university administrator in the country.

That article exposed ****, *******, and ***, the last one is what the OP "attended."

The article title: "Little-Known Colleges Exploit Visa Loopholes to Make Millions Off Foreign Students." You can find it via Google.

Some quotes from that article regarding ***:

The college opened in 1994 with the goal of becoming the largest university in the world. It had a rough start, losing its accreditation, nearly going bankrupt, and dwindling, by 2006, to a mere 18 students.

Then officials hit upon on a new strategy: promising foreign students that they could work full-time jobs off-campus as soon as they arrived. They also offered existing students a $500 tuition rebate for each new student they referred. Business took off.

The college gained a reputation in online forums used by Indian students as a good place to go to extend a student visa, or to get a job in lieu of obtaining an H-1B visa, which typically allows college-educated professionals to work in the United States for three years. Enrollment has since jumped to more than 1,500 students—94 percent from India—and the college has become very profitable. ***'s provost, Gerald A. Cory, earned $445,832 in 2009, more than was earned by the provosts of Yale, Brown, or Berkeley.

And the San Jose Mercury News had an article about *** falsely claiming that several accredited universities, including the University of California, would accept *** credits. They obviously do not.

*** is just another one of these frauds, these diploma mills.

[sj45]

Hi,

 

Is *** clean now? As per the links below

 

*** Accreditions:

http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/InstAccrDetails.aspx?756e697469643d3137313231362663616d70757349643d30267264743d322f31342f3230313420313a34343a313620414d

 

Accrediting BODY:

http://www.acswasc.org/      http://www.wascsenior.org/      http://directory.wascsenior.org/      

 

http://directory.wascsenior.org/international-technological-university#zoom=3&lat=39.50404&lon=-103.35937&layers=B0TF

 

 

Can students trust or rely on this? Can I trust applying for my H1B under Master's CAP? 

 

WASC accredited status from 2013 Feb.

WASC Pre-accredited in 2012

Granted Candidacy in 2011

 

Please let us know,

[catx]

Why do you want to go to a private for profit so-called 'university' with previous issues?  Why not apply to a recognized, reputable public state university / college and be done with it with no issues..

 

Just do it right.

[rahul412]

Can students trust or rely on this? Can I trust applying for my H1B under Master's CAP? 

 

WASC accredited status from 2013 Feb.

WASC Pre-accredited in 2012

Granted Candidacy in 2011

It depends on when you got your degree.

*** is still abusing the F1 program.So you might expect RFE's, better not to you that degree for immigration.

[JoeF]

No, they are not "clean" now.

They still continue to abuse CPT, making a visit from ICE likely.

Stay away from this institution.

[sj45]

Thank you all for the advice.. Appreciate your responses...

 

Thanks Rahul, I graduated when *** is under "WASC-pre-accredited" status (2012)... Now I am not sure if I can apply my H1B in Master Cap quota (student quota)...

 

As per one of Murthys postings/guidelines <http://www.murthy.com/2012/11/19/requirements-for-u-s-masters-graduates-to-enjoy-benefit-of-h1b-masters-cap/>,

 

One can apply in Master Cap quota if

 

(a) Their graduating Institution is a "Public or Other Nonprofit Institution"

 

(b) Institution must be "accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association" or "granted a pre-accreditation status."

 

Looking at the links <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Technological_University> *** is Private, "Non-Profit" (not Public) : is this matching condition (a) ?

WASC is nationally recognized accrediting agency which accredited *** after its 2 years of process verification etc : Can we assume condition (b) is matched ?

 

If yes and yes for above, can I apply H1B in Student quota? As I graduted when univ is under pre-accredition status ?

 

 

Besides my situation, I am still not clear on what depicts or differentiates a Genuine university..

 

Initially we thought that, if i20 is generated then the univ is genuine (Later understood VISA fraud can happen)

Later we thought that, if SEVIS is accepted and VISA is issued, then univ is genuine (this became wrong again - not accurate statement)

Then we thought that, 'ok, if university is having accredition, its genuine..

Then, we corrected ourself that, Not all accreditions are Valid -- Only Recognised Accreditions are valued..

WASC is highly recognised body and not all universities can get its accreditions.. It approved *** and accredited... (your responses contradict to this statement)

 

So, how can a new student coming from different continents/country, can judge best universities or can cross-verify university genuinity ?

 

All the links I provided above are ".gov" sites

 

Please share your ideas.. it will be useful for many confused students like me :) 

[JoeF]

*** continues to abuse things like CPT.

That's known by the authorities. That's why pretty much everybody using a degree from *** gets an RFE.

Abuse of CPT is what makes *** a fraud.

People need to stay away from such frauds if they want to have a career in the US.

[catx]

So, how can a new student coming from different continents/country, can judge best universities or can cross-verify university genuinity ?

 

All the links I provided above are ".gov" sites

 

Please share your ideas.. it will be useful for many confused students like me :) 

 

An accreditation by itself does not mean that an university / college is reputable or a good choice.  (A lack of accreditation does mean that the 'school' is questionable (probably not genuine nor legitimate).  In fact, it can't really be called an university or college if it does not have accreditation.)

 

"So how can a student from a different country judge the best universities".  Here are a few general pointers ...

• Public state universities / colleges are by definition a good choice.
• Private, non-profit universities / colleges affiliated with a recognized non-profit organization such as a church are typically a good choice.
• Other private universities / colleges, even if they claim to be 'non-profit', should be questioned, and it is best to not choose these schools.
• For private universities / colleges ...
  • What is the university / college ranking published by various organizations like U.S. News & World Report?  It is probably best to avoid an unranked or low ranked private school.
  • What is the percentage of foreign students to U.S. students (relative to the average at various public universities / colleges).  A high percentage of foreign students would be a 'flag' not to choose the school.
  • Does the university / college have NCAA athletic teams?  A private school with no competitive athletic teams maybe questionable.  A private school with NCAA athletic teams is probably okay.
  • Do not judge the school based solely on its web site.  Questionable private schools can have very legitimate looking web sites.

The above and other information needed to judge whether a university / college is a good choice (or not) is available on the Internet through diligent research.

[rahul412]

I don't know much about accrd agencies.

But for H1, your degree has to be from public and non profit university. If you take a look at the school website, it's clear that it is still abuse the CPT. So you might get into trouble.

[sj45]

Thank you for the detailed explanation Catx. Really appreciate your time and insights, This can definitely guide many international students in choosing good univs.

 

Thank you Rahul. Will bare that in mind while applying H1B.

 

One last question: As I already graduated for this univ (cant change it and no intention of joining school any further) I have to live with it. So in this situation, can I (I means employer) apply for 2 H1B's ... I will try to find a second sponsor/employer if they can offer me employment..

 

So my current employer will file for my H1B on Master's Cap quota and the other employer will file in General quota.

2 different employers filing in 2 different categories for same applicant. Will this be a good idea? Can my both get rejected?

 

I am lacking options here to retain or remain in status as my OPT Ext is questioned and its been answered by Law agency and still in initial review. Total processing time on my application is almost 9+ months by today, since the day i applied. Not sure what options I have if it gets denied. Whether Sevis gets terminated or should i plan for re-in-statement (worst case) and if my H1B gets approved how much cap gap I can get etc etc.. i've been living with these killing thoughts.. (i only got 46 days of unemployment and rest all days are paid full time in my opt. taxes filed, stubs, timesheets, w2's, PO's,statements etc submitted)

 

Also I've been hearing of NOID for some similar cases.. how likely i am close to this?

 

Sorry for many questions !! :) Please suggest..

[JoeF]

You should avoid using the degree from *** for anything.

That means filing an H1 with your bachelor degree, i.e., not using the Masters quota.

And you should also avoid having two employers file H1s. That invites scrutiny, and RFEs, since it is unlikely that two employers pay for H1 petitions for the same person when the person is only going to work for one employer.

Do things by the book.

[rahul412]

By filing multiple H1's it doesn't give you any benefits. So stick to one employer and never use your degree for immigration benefits.

[member45]

You should avoid using the degree from *** for anything.

That means filing an H1 with your bachelor degree, i.e., not using the Masters quota.

And you should also avoid having two employers file H1s. That invites scrutiny, and RFEs, since it is unlikely that two employers pay for H1 petitions for the same person when the person is only going to work for one employer.

Do things by the book.

are you a *** student i never seen any *** student replied liked you said, I don't understand your problem, I hope you read something in wikipedia and replying what ever you want, their are many real time working professionals teaching at *** who are from google apple and Nasa. professor from berkeley, san jose state university, santaclara university, california state university. Barbara hecker(california state university, one of the most reputed professor 650+ lecture video in you tube all the 650 videos are from *** class lecture here is the link http://www.***********.com/ world wide many student follow her lecture. Any way people like you dont understand the situation. you only looks the dark side, come on and look and bright side. Try to help student for what they questioned.