Sachin

-Indian citizen in US on F-1 visa
-Graduated January 2003, been on OPT till now (november 2003)
-OPT expires January 04

-Been working at a research lab at the University I graduated from.
-Applying to law schools, will probably (hopefully) go to law school in
September 2004.

here's the deal: My boss wants to keep me around till summer 04, but my OPT
expires in Jan 04. I'd like to stay and work till I go to law school,
otherwise I'll have to leave and come back for school. Also my research
project is incomplete, I'd like to finish it.

Boss says getting an H-1 will be problematic. I have a bachelors degree, and
I only want to work 6-8 months over my OPT.
Boss says getting a J-1 is possible.

question 1: Can I go from practical training F-1 to J-1 and continue my
research till I go to law school?
question 2: As soon as I get an i-20 from the law school, I'll need to go
back to F-1 before starting school. Can I do this from a j-1?

So basically my course of action is: Get on J1 before OPT expires, continue
research for a few months, get on F-1 to go to law school.

I'm all for this course of action, I'm just wondering if there's any snag
I'm not seeing, i.e. something that makes getting the J1, or going to law
school, impossible

thanks for any help
-satchmo

Ingo Pakleppa - See Web Site For Email

On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 20:47:50 -0500, sachin wrote:

    > -Indian citizen in US on F-1 visa
    > -Graduated January 2003, been on OPT till now (november 2003) -OPT
    > expires January 04
    >
    > -Been working at a research lab at the University I graduated from.
    > -Applying to law schools, will probably (hopefully) go to law school in
    > September 2004.
    >
    > here's the deal: My boss wants to keep me around till summer 04, but my
    > OPT expires in Jan 04. I'd like to stay and work till I go to law
    > school, otherwise I'll have to leave and come back for school. Also my
    > research project is incomplete, I'd like to finish it.
    > Boss says getting an H-1 will be problematic. I have a bachelors degree,
    > and I only want to work 6-8 months over my OPT. Boss says getting a J-1
    > is possible.
    >
    > question 1: Can I go from practical training F-1 to J-1 and continue my
    > research till I go to law school?

Yes. However, do keep in mind that a J-1 can be fraught with problems;
make sure that it will not carry the two-year home residency requirement.
Otherwise, you may not be able to continue studying without a major
hassle.

    > question 2: As soon as I get an i-20 from the law school, I'll need to
    > go back to F-1 before starting school. Can I do this from a j-1?

If the J-1 does not carry the HRR, yes. Otherwise, you can still do it,
but have to leave the USA and get a new F-1 visa first.

    > So basically my course of action is: Get on J1 before OPT expires,
    > continue research for a few months, get on F-1 to go to law school.
    >
    > I'm all for this course of action, I'm just wondering if there's any
    > snag I'm not seeing, i.e. something that makes getting the J1, or going
    > to law school, impossible
    >
    > thanks for any help
    > -satchmo

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Sylvia Ottemoeller

"sachin" <*remove*[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > -Indian citizen in US on F-1 visa
    > -Graduated January 2003, been on OPT till now (november 2003)
    > -OPT expires January 04
    > -Been working at a research lab at the University I graduated from.
    > -Applying to law schools, will probably (hopefully) go to law school in
    > September 2004.
    > here's the deal: My boss wants to keep me around till summer 04, but my
OPT
    > expires in Jan 04. I'd like to stay and work till I go to law school,
    > otherwise I'll have to leave and come back for school. Also my research
    > project is incomplete, I'd like to finish it.
    > Boss says getting an H-1 will be problematic. I have a bachelors degree,
and
    > I only want to work 6-8 months over my OPT.
    > Boss says getting a J-1 is possible.
    > question 1: Can I go from practical training F-1 to J-1 and continue my
    > research till I go to law school?

Legally, this is possible.

    > question 2: As soon as I get an i-20 from the law school, I'll need to go
    > back to F-1 before starting school. Can I do this from a j-1?

Legally, this is possible.

    > So basically my course of action is: Get on J1 before OPT expires,
continue
    > research for a few months, get on F-1 to go to law school.
    > I'm all for this course of action, I'm just wondering if there's any snag
    > I'm not seeing, i.e. something that makes getting the J1, or going to law
    > school, impossible

Ingo mentioned the 2 year HRR. India has a skills lists, so you must find
out whether your particular field of specialization will obligate you to the
HRR. See
http://exchanges.state.gov/education...on/waivers.htm.
The master list has "Law" as category 6N. The list for India (p. 2744) does
not have 6N, so you probably are not subject based on the skills list. But
there is always a chance of errors and misunderstandings by government
officials. You should have a careful discussion with your J-1 adviser, in
whatever agency or institution will be issuing the DS 2019 for the J. Here
is more material on J-1 obligations: http://travel.state.gov/jvw.html.

Also, there is the problem of getting from F to J and from J to F. You can
apply to do either within the U.S. by filing Form I-539, but this
application can take several months from filing to adjudication. See
http://www.shusterman.com/toc-sc.html; check the CSC, NSC, TSC, or VSC,
whichever has jurisdiction over the location of your employment or of your
school (I think you could apply under either location). For example, CSC
seems to be taking about 4 months. If you can apply early enough for the
I-539 to be approved before the end of F-1 OPT, you can remain on the
payroll continuously. Similarly with changing back from J to F -- however,
you can enroll in classes before the I-539 is approved. You cannot,
however, take advantage of any employment authorization eligibility under
F-1 status until the I-539 has been approved.

In order to get into the next status you need, you may have to leave the
U.S., get a visa stamp, and re-enter in the new status. That visa
application may be subject to security checks, and may take some time. It's
difficult to predict. You should have a careful discussion of this with
your international student adviser, both at the old school and at the new
school.

Sylvia Ottemoeller

"Sylvia Ottemoeller" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > "sachin" <*remove*[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > -Indian citizen in US on F-1 visa
    > > -Graduated January 2003, been on OPT till now (november 2003)
    > > -OPT expires January 04
    > >
    > > -Been working at a research lab at the University I graduated from.
    > > -Applying to law schools, will probably (hopefully) go to law school in
    > > September 2004.
    > >
    > > here's the deal: My boss wants to keep me around till summer 04, but my
    > OPT
    > > expires in Jan 04. I'd like to stay and work till I go to law school,
    > > otherwise I'll have to leave and come back for school. Also my research
    > > project is incomplete, I'd like to finish it.
    > >
    > > Boss says getting an H-1 will be problematic. I have a bachelors degree,
and
    > > I only want to work 6-8 months over my OPT.
    > > Boss says getting a J-1 is possible.
    > >
    > > question 1: Can I go from practical training F-1 to J-1 and continue my
    > > research till I go to law school?
    > Legally, this is possible.
    > > question 2: As soon as I get an i-20 from the law school, I'll need to
go
    > > back to F-1 before starting school. Can I do this from a j-1?
    > Legally, this is possible.
    > > So basically my course of action is: Get on J1 before OPT expires,
    > continue
    > > research for a few months, get on F-1 to go to law school.
    > >
    > > I'm all for this course of action, I'm just wondering if there's any
snag
    > > I'm not seeing, i.e. something that makes getting the J1, or going to
law
    > > school, impossible
    > Ingo mentioned the 2 year HRR. India has a skills lists, so you must find
    > out whether your particular field of specialization will obligate you to
the
    > HRR. See
    > http://exchanges.state.gov/education...on/waivers.htm.
    > The master list has "Law" as category 6N. The list for India (p. 2744)
does
    > not have 6N, so you probably are not subject based on the skills list.

I forgot -- you are working in lab. Well, whether or not you are subject
depends on the field of research.

Also, it seems virtually impossible for an I-539 to be filed and approved at
any of the USCIS Service Centers before January 04.