Travelling after applying to opt ( but 3 months before graduation)

[ansun1]

Hi all,
I am a Masters student and will be graduating in the summer (August). I was thinking of applying for OPT by start of May. However, I have to travel to my country at the end of may for a two week period. Here is my question - is it safe to do this? Will there any issues during re-entry?

[Jezzlin]

That really depends on end date on your I-20. If your I-20 end date is sometime in August then you can exit and re-enter with a valid F-1 visa and travel signature. The only complication could be that if your I-20 end date is in mid-June and you leave late in May you *must* return before the end date, otherwise you will not be granted entry even if you have applied for OPT.

In the event that you cannot return before the expiry of the I-20, but have applied for OPT, you would have to wait for the EAD card AND hold a job offer in the US, along with the I-20 that shows you are authorized for OPT status. Only with these three documents could you then re-enter the US.

So I would advise you to not leave the country unless you are definitively certain that you will return before the end date on your I-20.