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Had US F-1 then H1B visa; moved back to India; thinking of going back to US again!
Hi,
I went to US in 2008 on F-1 visa for bachelors degree. Instead of OPT after my bachelors, I pursued MS in Biotechnology (STEM) on same visa and landed a job immediately after graduating in December. I filed for OPT and got my EAD card which stated the validity from Dec, 2011-Dec, 2012. However, my company filed for H-1B as soon as I joined them in January after my post-graduation. As per my I797 card, it started from Jan, 2012 itself. This implies that I did not utilize my OPT period of Jan 2012-Dec 2012.
I had to move back to India in 2014 due to some reason. H1-B was valid till 2015. Now, i am thinking of going to US again for MBA program. I understand I would have to apply for F-1 visa again. However, as I have already opted for OPT once after my MS in US, would i still be eligible for OPT after MBA program? I understand we can only avail OPT once for each degree (BS, MS, PhD) but since I did not use my full OPT period, could I have that remaining period after MBA?
Any ideas/information for such situation? Help is appreciated.
Thanks
Aksha
I went to US in 2008 on F-1 visa for bachelors degree. Instead of OPT after my bachelors, I pursued MS in Biotechnology (STEM) on same visa and landed a job immediately after graduating in December. I filed for OPT and got my EAD card which stated the validity from Dec, 2011-Dec, 2012. However, my company filed for H-1B as soon as I joined them in January after my post-graduation. As per my I797 card, it started from Jan, 2012 itself. This implies that I did not utilize my OPT period of Jan 2012-Dec 2012.
I had to move back to India in 2014 due to some reason. H1-B was valid till 2015. Now, i am thinking of going to US again for MBA program. I understand I would have to apply for F-1 visa again. However, as I have already opted for OPT once after my MS in US, would i still be eligible for OPT after MBA program? I understand we can only avail OPT once for each degree (BS, MS, PhD) but since I did not use my full OPT period, could I have that remaining period after MBA?
Any ideas/information for such situation? Help is appreciated.
Thanks
Aksha
