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, since
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

Michael E. Piston

1) Yes, assuming that you find an exchange visitor program willing to
issue a DS-2019 to you to get the training you desire, and you apply
for a change of status within 60 days of your OPT expiring;

2) Yes, assuming that you are not subject to the home residence
requirement. This turns upon whether the skills in which you will
receive training appear on India's exchange visitor's skills list.
Even if you are subject, however, India is fairly liberal about
recommending to the Department of State that you be granted a waiver,
although the process is quite time consuming.

Michael E. Piston
Attorney at Law
Michael E. Piston P.C.
4000 Livernois Ste 110
Troy, MI 48098
248/680-0600
Direct fax: 206/770-6350

The statements above have not been confirmed by legal research, and
are not intended as legal advice nor to create an attorney-client
relationship.



"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, since
    > 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