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Dear all,
I am currently on an F-1 OPT, which expires in July. My H-1B petition was selected in the lottery last month (with a common sponsor company), and I expect it to be approved soon (this month). The current plan is to apply for gap cap, to bridge the time between July (OPT expiration) and October (earliest H-1B start?).
I have a couple of questions regarding different options I am thinking about:
1. Can I quit my current job and be unemployed (now? after the petition is approved?) and still activate and use the H-1B with a different employer in the fall (under the assumption that I find a new eligible employer beforehand, of course). Or do I need to activate with my current employer before I quit? Would it be a problem if I leave the country between quitting and activating with a new employer?
2. For (1), what would be the latest point in time at which I could still use the approved H-1B with a different employer? Even in the next year?
3. If I want to seemlessly switch jobs without unemployment, when is the earliest I can do that? Now? Or only after the approval (or later)?
4. If I do quit my job now, would I have to leave the US immediately (I think there is an unemployment grace perior for F-1 OPT and I have not had a day of unemployment)? Or would my OPT (even when unemployed) carry me through early July when my F-1 OPT expires anyway?
Thank you, everyone.
I am currently on an F-1 OPT, which expires in July. My H-1B petition was selected in the lottery last month (with a common sponsor company), and I expect it to be approved soon (this month). The current plan is to apply for gap cap, to bridge the time between July (OPT expiration) and October (earliest H-1B start?).
I have a couple of questions regarding different options I am thinking about:
1. Can I quit my current job and be unemployed (now? after the petition is approved?) and still activate and use the H-1B with a different employer in the fall (under the assumption that I find a new eligible employer beforehand, of course). Or do I need to activate with my current employer before I quit? Would it be a problem if I leave the country between quitting and activating with a new employer?
2. For (1), what would be the latest point in time at which I could still use the approved H-1B with a different employer? Even in the next year?
3. If I want to seemlessly switch jobs without unemployment, when is the earliest I can do that? Now? Or only after the approval (or later)?
4. If I do quit my job now, would I have to leave the US immediately (I think there is an unemployment grace perior for F-1 OPT and I have not had a day of unemployment)? Or would my OPT (even when unemployed) carry me through early July when my F-1 OPT expires anyway?
Thank you, everyone.
