Urgent please respond: F1-H1B, quitting PhD

[rgpr]

Dear All,

I currently hold an F1 visa and am enrolled in a PhD program. I want to discontinue PhD and work on an H1B visa. I have an MS degree from a US University and had used up the OPT period in the past.

My questions are as follows:


Is it legal to quit the PhD program and file for H1B if someone is willing to hire me?


Given this is the Month of March/April if I get a job now how may I be able to work for an employer?


How do I maintain status until October 1st? I have been in the PhD program for just one year. Is it possible to file for a pre-completion OPT for the PhD program and start working for an employer to get H1B and eventually quit PhD?


If the change of status from F1 -H1B is approved will visa stamping in India be an issue? (I got my current F1 visa only after clearance for a 221g case).


Thank you very much for your help.

[raysaikat]

Dear All,

I currently hold an F1 visa and am enrolled in a PhD program. I want to discontinue PhD and work on an H1B visa. I have an MS degree from a US University and had used up the OPT period in the past.

My questions are as follows:


Is it legal to quit the PhD program and file for H1B if someone is willing to hire me?

Yes.


Given this is the Month of March/April if I get a job now how may I be able to work for an employer?

You will not be able to start working until your H1-B status kicks in. I think H1-B for the current fiscal year (Oct'09-Sep'10) is exhausted. If that's the case, then your employer has to apply for the H1-B visa when the application window opens on April 1, 2010, and you will not be able to start working until Oct 1, 2010.

If you can get CPT approved by your school, then you can work for the employer during the summer months.


How do I maintain status until October 1st? I have been in the PhD program for just one year. Is it possible to file for a pre-completion OPT for the PhD program and start working for an employer to get H1B and eventually quit PhD?


You cannot apply for OPT until you finish (or about to finish) your Ph.D. requirements (including the dissertation).

If your school officials and your department approves, then you might be able to do a CPT. But that means you cannot quit school.

If you cannot get a CPT, then it might be simplest to go back to your home country after you have your H1-B approval in hand and wait it out.



If the change of status from F1 -H1B is approved will visa stamping in India be an issue? (I got my current F1 visa only after clearance for a 221g case).


Not really. The consulate may again ask for security clearance, or other documents, and may delay the approval, etc., but the fact that you quit your Ph.D. wouldn't particularly be held against you, though you should be prepared to answer why you did that to the IO.

Thank you very much for your help.

[rgpr]

Saikat,

Thank you for your replies. One more question....if the change of status from F1 to H1B within the US is denied then does my F1 visa get automatically revoked?

-rgpr

[raysaikat]

Saikat,

Thank you for your replies. One more question....if the change of status from F1 to H1B within the US is denied then does my F1 visa get automatically revoked?

-rgpr

Note that "status" is different from "visa".

Since this will be your first H1-B visa, it is very unlikely that USCIS will grant you change of status without going out of US. That is, assuming that USCIS approves your H1-B petition, most likely you will get an I-797 (which would be valid from Oct 1, 2010) without an attached I-94. This means to get in the H1-B status, you need to go out and reenter US around Oct 1 (I think you will not be able to enter more than a couple of weeks before the start date of I-797).

Coming to the denial, what denial are you referring to? There are many situations.

In general, your status is determined by the latest I-94 card. For F-1 students, that usually says "D/S" which means Duration of study (or Duration of status). That means, the moment you quit your school --- i.e., you no longer remain a student in good standing at your University --- you lose your F-1 status.

Now supposing that you do not quit your school:

(i) If your H1-B petition is denied (i.e., no approved I-797), then no harm. You remain in F-1 status.

(ii) If your H1-B petition is approved, but comes without I-94 card, then you continue to remain in your F-1 status until you go out of US and reenter using your H1-B VISA (that means, you need to get an H1-B visa stamp on your passport as well) and get the corresponding I-94 card.

In this scenario, I believe that if you decide not to use the approved H1-B visa (i.e., you continue your Ph.d., and do not go out, or do not reenter using the H1-B visa), then you would continue to remain in F-1 status even after Oct 1, 2010. However, you may want to confirm that with a lawyer.

(iii) If your H1-B petition is approved and comes with an attached I-94 card (this is unlikely), then you lose your F-1 status from the day written on the I-94 card. At that day you would go in the H1-B status and must be working.

[rgpr]

During my first entry to the US I had been on an F1 visa for my MS studies. I took an OPT corresponding to this level of education and had a COS to H1B within the US (academia, quota exempt). I never had this H1B stamped in my passport as I never left the country.

In order to pursue my PhD, I had another COS from H1B-F1 within the US. This time I had a 221g invoked on my application but it was cleared and I could re-enter US. So I am in my first year and due to some reasons I would like to discontinue the program and go back to work.

I may get employed by either academia or industry. The October 1st start date would correspond to the industry job whereas there would be no such start date for an academic job.

I will surely not quit PhD but wait for an employment opportunity and to have my COS to H1B approved within the US. In the interim can I register for 1 credit over the summer and fall semester respectively in order to remain in full-time student status?

Any other thoughts on the wait time around the COS period?