One student’s mistake, or rather, a company’s silence, might now cost them their right to work in the US. A social media user recently shared their odd case involving OPT, H-1B, and SEVIS.
A student claims to be working on OPT when their old employer filed an H-1B petition. However, they were then laid off and assumed the H-1B process would stop.
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Then came the twist as it turns out, that the employer silently followed through and the USCIS even approved the H-1B!
The student’s status changed without their knowledge and they only found out months later while working a new job on OPT. Now, what should have been a reason for joy turned into a legal mess.
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The student’s OPT is expiring and they didn’t get selected in the H-1B lottery this year. Moreover, when they asked their school to transfer their SEVIS to a new school they were met with a brutal answer of “it’s not possible.”
When they tried reactivating their F-1 OPT status they claimed, ”I got the communication from SEVP that your completed I-20 record cannot be made active STEM OPT again because the H-1B was not done under consular processing.”
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This case exposes a dangerous gray zone in the US immigration system. International students are expected to understand complex rules, yet even universities and lawyers often miss these landmines.
A simple miscommunication and one status switch behind the scenes, and years of planning can go to waste.
