H1 Filed - Legal Status to stay in US

[statguy07]

Hi All,
I have a very much unique case. I am currently doing my PhD. Also I
got a job (I took it as a backup plan) and the employer has filed for
my H-1B (which is currently getting processed, got my receipt number). Now I am no more interested in PhD and want to join the job instead. If I
have to discontinue I have to inform them within first week of July
(because then there will be the qualifier exam and other
complications). As a result the International Services Office of my univ will release me in the Cevis system (used for F-1 visa) around end of July. Also I can't start working before October 1st. Now my question is what will be the legal status of my stay in US for the months of August and September? My employer has said that once my H-1B is filed and I am already in US then I can stay legally (though can't start working before October). Another person has said that once my H-1B is processed I can stay in this country legally. I just wanted to know what the correct law is. Can I legally remain in US in the interim 2 months? Please advise me on this critical issue and thanks a lot in advance!!

[topcatin]

My guess is you are on F1 since you said ur doing ur Phd.
and once your F1 expires ...you have a 1 year OPT (optional practical training)..and it looks like OPT has expired.
Once this is expired you have a 60 day grace period.
so you can stay in the country for 58 days...i have been advised not to make full use of that 60 days.
so after that 60 days you will have to leave and get your H1 approval notice and get it stamped in your home country.
So legally you can stay 60 days after it expires, but you need to check if you leave immediately do you immediately go out of status? that is something you need to check with your school. I would just pull through the pHd thing till october and then just say "ok I am not interested anymore" and do a change of status to H1.

[statguy07]

My guess is you are on F1 since you said ur doing ur Phd.
and once your F1 expires ...you have a 1 year OPT (optional practical training)..and it looks like OPT has expired.
Once this is expired you have a 60 day grace period.
so you can stay in the country for 58 days...i have been advised not to make full use of that 60 days.
so after that 60 days you will have to leave and get your H1 approval notice and get it stamped in your home country.
So legally you can stay 60 days after it expires, but you need to check if you leave immediately do you immediately go out of status? that is something you need to check with your school. I would just pull through the pHd thing till october and then just say "ok I am not interested anymore" and do a change of status to H1.

Well thanks for your reply. But OPT and 60 days grace period will come into picture when you complete your degree. I am dropping out after 1 year. So I doubt the 60 days grace period will be applicable to me. And I HAVE to inform the school in July. If I could maintain the F-1 status till October 1st, then I wud have no problem at all. But due to some reasons I have to tell them if I at all take the job (which I intend to do).

[topcatin]

What you can do is get an I-20 from Kaplan and join some small course like gmat or somthin.Kaplan issues i-20 for a year or depending on courses even for 6 months and it can cost you roughly 900$. This is an option and then Kaplan will get in touch with your school and the university will be notified and they will have to hand over the paper work or some formalities to Kaplan. Hope this makes sense, this is the information I got from my immigration specialist on campus. And do this now itself because Kaplan also has certain conditions like applying 30 days before your visa expires and stuff. And you will be on F1 status with Kaplan's i-20 and you will have to attend I guess 20 hours or whatever is required on a weekly basis. Do this provided your employer is ok with this, I have known people who have done this and their employer is also ok with this and then join work on oct1st.

[statguy07]

What you can do is get an I-20 from Kaplan and join some small course like gmat or somthin.Kaplan issues i-20 for a year or depending on courses even for 6 months and it can cost you roughly 900$. This is an option and then Kaplan will get in touch with your school and the university will be notified and they will have to hand over the paper work or some formalities to Kaplan. Hope this makes sense, this is the information I got from my immigration specialist on campus. And do this now itself because Kaplan also has certain conditions like applying 30 days before your visa expires and stuff. And you will be on F1 status with Kaplan's i-20 and you will have to attend I guess 20 hours or whatever is required on a weekly basis. Do this provided your employer is ok with this, I have known people who have done this and their employer is also ok with this and then join work on oct1st.

Thanks for your reply. I shall look at that option. Can you please send the link to the program you were talking about, from Kaplan. I mean I visited their website and there are many courses there. They also provide full degrees like Masters and MBAs. Were you talking about them or a tutoring program like GMAT etc. But in that case do they provide I-20 just for tutoring GMAT (or something similar)? Anyways it will be very much helpful if you send me the link to the program. Also do you know any cheaper option other than Kaplan ?
Thanks for your help in advance!!

[topcatin]

Yes I was talking about the tutoring courses like gmat, I spoke to them last year around november and they have a english course and they give a i-20 for 1 year. And i recall that being cheaper than gmat courses. I think 900 is a number which came to my mind but call and check with them. You can call the main number and they will direct you. Note that Kaplan has these classes in selected cities. Like houston will have only gmat courses, DC has english courses etc like that. So look into that too. There should be a number on their website and you can talk to them directly.the MBA programs are all waste because you just need a i-20 to be in status, so going for a tutoring course is good enough.Leave that to you though.the point is you need to be in status.

[topcatin]

I am not sure of the type of organization you are going to be working with. But note that if this place is a non-profit or/and higher education institute (universities) ...these organizations do not come under the h1 cap. In other words they dont have to wait for oct1st 2007 as start date. They can have any date as the visa start date.. I jsut wanted to put this in coz i wasnt sure if this was a commercial company or a NGO etc.

[statguy07]

I am not sure of the type of organization you are going to be working with. But note that if this place is a non-profit or/and higher education institute (universities) ...these organizations do not come under the h1 cap. In other words they dont have to wait for oct1st 2007 as start date. They can have any date as the visa start date.. I jsut wanted to put this in coz i wasnt sure if this was a commercial company or a NGO etc.

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions. Your suggestions are one of the best I have received among the various forums. Well I shall take a look at the tutoring courses in Kaplan and give them a call. Lets see what I can find out. But my organization is a normal company (profit making) so it doesnt come under non-profit or educational status. My job is also a typical industry job. But anyways thanks for the info.

[topcatin]

Glad the info I gave was helpful. The Kaplan plan shouldnt be an issue in getting a I-20, You can infact tell your school that you are going to bla bla and they will do the transfer of the I-20 and Kaplan will get in touch with your uni and do the paper work. All the best.