H1 Consular Visa approved but not stamped and OPT expired

[ashnixx]

I was on F1 and my OPT expired in March 2020/
My H1 visa was approved via consular processing starting Nov, 2018 until Sep 2021.
I had no idea that my visa was via consular processing and never got it stamped. For me, since the H1 was approved was good enough to keep working in my company.
My companies lawyer were preparing for my H1 extension and discovered that my H1 was not activated because I never got it stamped.
They are now asking me to go outside of US and get it stamped ASAP (before September).
They told me that I was not out of status but I was also not authorized to work.
What are my options? I do not want to get banned from entering US especially now I have baby, also my spouse is on H1.

[rkk09]

Hi,
This situation is really hard to accept. At least your company or lawyer must have notified about your category of H1B Approval. Anyhow, As your lawyer said, you will need to immediately leave the country as you dont have any status at present. If you have F1 status then you can do change of status..
I would recommend to have a conversation with senior Immigration Attorney to discuss about this and take action as soon as possible.
Thanks