Has anyone here travelled outside USA on f1-Opt while H1 is filed?
I hear mixed opinions. People tell that travel(i94) info needs to be updated by my lawyer separately. My lawyer however says that I can travel on my current visa and that my H1 filing does not restrict anything. H1, if granted, will begin only from oct1.
You can travel outside the country during h1 processing if it has been filed under consular processing. If it has been filed under regular processing, you cannot. Check with your attorney on this. I wanted to go to Mexico whole my h1b processing was on, but could not because it was filed in regular processing. Some of the companies do consular processing, especially consulting companies because consultants may have to travel for work.
Its a very gray area. If you opt valid and your h1b visa is not “approved”, i think you can go without issues. If you are on cap-gap i dont think you can leave because there will be no valid visa without proper lawyer consultation. Once its “approved” then my lawyer said that if you leave the country then come October1, your change of status will not take place automatically, but when i talked around more, no one was really sure how could i ensure my change of status wouldn’t take place on October1(since it is automatically done in SEVIS and USCIS record)
Once you leave the country your AOS is considered abandoned, thus, canceled and no status change.
If your H1 petition is approved while you’re travelling, I don’t think you will be able to enter back on F1-OPT and your H1 status won’t kick in until Oct to get it stamped. What are you planning to do then? I decided not to travel as it is not advised generally.
Is H1 Petition approval the final stage? Am I correct in my understanding of the sequence of events here. 1. Getting picked in the lottery 2. Validation of application and documents requested, just in case 3. Petition approval notice. How long does it take to reach these stages? If travel is after stage 3 and before Oct 1, why can I not come back on my opt, which would still be valid?