Can Student Visa Holders Apply for a Green Card?
This article was submitted to and published in The Economic Times.
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Applicants for Change of Status to F-1 Student No Longer Need to Submit Subsequent Applications to ‘Bridge the Gap’
Release Date
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced new policy guidance that eliminates the need for individuals who have applied for a change of status (COS) to F-1 student to apply to change or extend their nonimmigrant status while their initial F-1 COS application is pending.
F-1 OPT - No Job
Question details
I was approved for my OPT on February 2008 for a duration of one year. At that time, I was allowed to stay in US for 1 year while looking for job. On April, 2008, a new regulation came according to which a student on OPT can not stay in US without job for more than 90 days. I was not aware of this rule until end of September 2008. Now I have applied for dependent visa. My worry is that unknowingly I stayed for around 6 month without job when I was actually allowed for only three month.
I am worried that is this mistake going to affect my new visa approval? Is there anyway I can explain USCIS that it happened because I was not informed about this rule and I did not come across it.
Your best bet is to get your dependent visa stamp from a consulate as soon as possible. That should take care of any potential future problems.