Hi,

I got my H1B approved from 09/10/2007. Right now I am on F1 and I am not taking summer class. My fall session starts from 26 august 2007. From August 26 to septmeber 10, i have 15 days. So my question is that if I do not enroll for Fall 2007, would I be out of status? Can I stay without enrolling for Fall 2007 ? will it hamper H1B which going to start from Sept. 10, 2007. Please advise me.

There are a few things that are not clearly mentioned in your question above.
you get 14 months in total for your OPT. I assume that you are in OPT now. If so, when did your OPT start and when does it end (I am assuming that it ends on Aug 26..). You have 60 days to change your status (may it be from F1 to H1 or otherwise).
If your OPT started the day you graduated and it ends on Aug 26, there is no need to worry about status issue (since your 60 days grace period will be more than enough to cover the gap between F1 and H1.

Also, as far as I know, all H1Bs start only from Oct1st onwwards (yours seems to start from Sept 1oth...).

So, from what I understand about your case, if you havent taken that grace period of 60 days (for eg my OPT started from July 15th. My graduation date was May 15th. I already took those 60 days so I would have to do something to maintain my status ...starting from July 15th of the following year), there is no need for you worry.

If this doesnt clear your doubts, throw me more details about ur graduation date, OPT start and end date. I will be willing to help you as much as I can.

hey firante,
isn't it like everybody will get 60 days grace period after OPT expiration no matter if he takes before or after. for example:
1. graduation date: may 1, 2006
2. opt start date: july 1, 2006
3. opt expire date: june 30, 2007
4. grace period: august 30, 2007
if someone gets new i 20 by august 30, 2007, he will be fine. what a dilemma.
according to law:

http://www.immigration-lawyer-us.com/f-1_students.shtml

Grace Periods - 214.2(f)(5)(iv)

Students who have completed their course of study and any authorized practical training have a 60-day grace period after expiration of F-1 status. The 60 days run from the end date of the completion of the course of study or the end date of any authorized practical training, whichever is later. F-1 students who obtain authorization from their school to withdraw from school receive a 15-day grace period. Under the new rules, grace periods explicitly do not apply in any other circumstance.

suggestion from sajha people is highly appreciated.

target2green ,

What I have said above it what I have learnt from my past experience.
I am not sure if laws have changed since then (which I doubt).
I had talked to many lawyers and others too. from what I came to understand, you just get a total of 60 days (it counts towards your 60 days grace period if you take some days earlier ....meaning between your graduation day and the start day for your OPT or after your OPT ends).

Again its from what I have understood from my experience and whatever research I had done sometime back...according to your example that you have mentioned above,
you need to be in status after june 30th 2007 (since you have already used the grace period of 60 days ...from your graduation date till your OPT start date).

But like I said above, I am not a legal expert. So you might want to consult a lawyer if you really want to double check everything. Also, I would appreciate if you could let us know if its other than what I have mentioned above (the whole 60 day grace period thing...).
thanks.

Its the same here, my friends OPT is expiring 10 days before October 1, 2007 and he has already used his 60 days grace period. Does he again gets the grace peiod of 60 days once his OPT expires or should he leave the country to maintain his status and re-enter again on H1 Visa?

Hi Firante,

I read your suggestions but my case is different. I already was working on my OPT and it expired on 12/31/2006. Due to some reason I could not apply for H1B on 2006. So inorder to maintain my status I joined a small college and got F1 status on spring 2007. The company which I was working for, rehired me, I applied for H1B and got it approved.

So right now I am on F1 status and my H1B starts from 09/10/2007. and I do not want to waste my money by enrolling for Fall 2007 (08/20/2007) because my h1B starts from 09/10/2007.

waiting for your suggestion.

Hey pkk20,
I have few questions for you:
1. When your OPT expired on 12/31/2006, did you take grace period before start or after end of OPT
2. Was it 60 days altogether
3. small college, you mean community college or what kind of college at what courses did you enroll
4. when your company rehired, did you worked as CPT or how you manage to work. Can we apply for CPT for same level (Master) once we finished our OPT already.

Waiting for your response.

Hi target2green,

Here are answers to your querries:

1. No I did not take any grace period after expiration of OPT. I got Addmission right after OPT expiration date.

2 ---

3. I got enrolled for IT courses

4. At the time of rehiring, I was not working with my company. I worked with them for full one year in 2006. At the time of rehiring I was in F1 status and studying as a full time student at two year community college. The company just send me an job offer letter for 09/10/2007 and then with that offer letter I filed for H1B individually (premium processing) and got H1b approved in 12 days. So now I have to start my job from 09/10/2007

you have to enroll for that 15 days

Hi PKK20,

If you havent used any grace period (either before or after the start/end date of OPT and there after).

You have 60 days grace period (to maintain your status).
Since you only seem to have a period of 20 days you are good to go.
You dont need to enroll for any class or anything.

Again, like I have mentioned earlier , I am not a legal expert. I have known this all from my past experience and my own research.

I am pretty sure about what I have mentioned above.
But to be on the safe side talk to a lawyer (normaly they charge you around $ 75 for consultation).

Good luck again.

Hi pkk20,
I have the similar situation. My H1 has been approved but I'm still on F1 taking a certificate program until October 2007. I already enrolled fulltime for Spring,
but I wonder if I also need to take fulltime classes for Summer? The school immigration office said it's required for F1 student to enroll fulltime every quarter even in the summer. I don't think it really makes sense since many classes are not available in the summer. Any suggestion is appreciated, thanks.

As per 2 different int. advisor Int national studends are not required to take summer class.

These things I did:
1: issued new I-20
2: registered 12 credits that starts in oct 07, any classess
3: explained my reason for admission and they said they will drop all the classes when I get H1
Hope this is help
Good luck

pkk20:
you don't have grace period. grace period comes with OPT/graduation. once you went back to F1 (in middle/end of Opt) your opt and grace period all gone.
1. you need to maintain status until 9/9/2007 by doing
i. registering classes for fall and later droping classes on 9/10 (by doing so, you might get refund of your bill).
ii. transfering at KAPLAN and later droping classes on 9/10.
iii. if you don't want refund you don't need to drop classes. you will be H1B status on/after 9/10
target2green:
you have 60 days grace period after your expiration of OPT. don't worry. yes you are right. if you get i 20 before august 20, you are good.

Hello,
I am in the same status now. H1 got appproved and i do not want to join college to spend money. H1 starts from october 1st only. So i wrote a letter to college and send them copy of my H1.

Hey PKK20:

you can enroll for the classes just to be in status for a week and drop all the classes as you are in H1. I think it is too late to give you this advice since your H1 is starting tomorrow.

Anyway, it would have been an option for you.

Puruz