Joma

My friend, through a potential employer, has been trying to get a H1B petition approved for him to start working as soon as possible. He is currently in the United States. He was originally on a F1 visa but the petition was filed almost two years since he graduated from school with a Masters degree.

As expected, the USCIS did not approve his change of status, and requested for a copy of his Servis I-20. Since it's almost certain, the USCIS will not approve his change of status, he wants to travel outside the US and seek a H1B visa stamp at a US consulate abroad. The problem is, at this point, the petition has not been approved either since the employer got a letter from USCIS requested a copy of the Servis I-20. What is the best way to go about this in order to have the USCIS approve the petition, and have him seek a Visa stamp abroad before he can begin working? Should his employer go ahead and send the expired I-20 as requested, or should he write to USCIS, and explain to them that he wishes to have the petition processed without a change of status.

Thank you all for your advise.

Joma

My friend, through a potential employer, has been trying to get a H1B petition approved for him to start working as soon as possible. He is currently in the United States. He was originally on a F1 visa but the petition was filed almost two years since he graduated from school with a Masters degree.

As expected, the USCIS did not approve his change of status, and requested for a copy of his Servis I-20. Since it's almost certain, the USCIS will not approve his change of status, he wants to travel outside the US and seek a H1B visa stamp at a US consulate abroad. The problem is, at this point, the petition has not been approved either since the employer got a letter from USCIS requesting a copy of the Servis I-20. What is the best way to go about this in order to have the USCIS approve the petition, and have him seek a Visa stamp abroad before he can begin working? Should his employer go ahead and send the expired I-20 as requested, or should he write to USCIS, and explain to them that he wishes to have the petition processed without a change of status.

Thank you all for your advise.

Kevin Keane

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I'm sorry. I have been trying to understand what you are saying here, but I
can't quite follow.

Are you saying he applied for an H-1B two years ago? Why did it take so long
for USCIS to decide? Why did USCIS eventually deny it? Why did they request
a Sevis I-20? What did he do while waiting for the H-1B to be approved? Did
he use Optional Practical Training?

I'm also confused because you say that "As expected USCIS did not approve
his change of status" and then a sentence later "it's almost certain, the
USCIS will not approve his change of status". Which is it - did they
already deny it, or do you expect they will?

Joma wrote:

    >
    > My friend, through a potential employer, has been trying to get a H1B
    > petition approved for him to start working as soon as possible. He is
    > currently in the United States. He was originally on a F1 visa but the
    > petition was filed almost two years since he graduated from school with
    > a Masters degree.
    >
    > As expected, the USCIS did not approve his change of status, and
    > requested for a copy of his Servis I-20. Since it's almost certain, the
    > USCIS will not approve his change of status, he wants to travel outside
    > the US and seek a H1B visa stamp at a US consulate abroad. The problem
    > is, at this point, the petition has not been approved either since the
    > employer got a letter from USCIS requested a copy of the Servis I-20.
    > What is the best way to go about this in order to have the USCIS approve
    > the petition, and have him seek a Visa stamp abroad before he can begin
    > working? Should his employer go ahead and send the expired I-20 as
    > requested, or should he write to USCIS, and explain to them that he
    > wishes to have the petition processed without a change of status.
    >
    > Thank you all for your advise.
    >

- --
Please visit my FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com before asking a question here.
It may answer your question. Remember, I am strictly a layperson without
any legal training. I encourage the reader to seek competent legal counsel
rather than relying on usenet newsgroups.
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Joma

O.k let me clarify....

The H1B petition was only done a few months ago.....In April or May. Two years is the time that has passed sinced he was in Valid F1 status i.e since he graduated.

USCIS has not denied the petition, but since he is in the US, the employer had requested that the USCIS adjust/change his status to H1B.

What the USCIS has done is to RFE the petition and asked the petitioner to provide a copy of Servis I-20, as a proof of what status the beneficiary is changing from.

What I was asking, is whether its better for the petitioner to write to the USCIS and request that they process the petition, without a change of status, and then have the beneficiary travel outside the US to seek a H1B stamp, or whether the petitioner should just foward the expired I-20 to USCIS, and leave them to decide on what they want to do.

I hope am now clear enough.

Thanks in advance.

Kevin Keane

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Joma wrote:

    >
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    >> Hash: SHA1
    >> I'm sorry. I have been trying to understand what you are saying here,
    >> but I
    >> can't quite follow.
    >> Are you saying he applied for an H-1B two years ago? Why did it take
    >> so long
    >> for USCIS to decide? Why did USCIS eventually deny it? Why did they
    >> request
    >> a Sevis I-20? What did he do while waiting for the H-1B to be
    >> approved? Did
    >> he use Optional Practical Training?
    >> I'm also confused because you say that "As expected USCIS did not
    >> approve
    >> his change of status" and then a sentence later "it's almost certain,
    >> the
    >> USCIS will not approve his change of status". Which is it - did they
    >> already deny it, or do you expect they will?
    >> Joma wrote:
    >> >
    >> > My friend, through a potential employer, has been trying to get a
    >> > H1B
    >> > petition approved for him to start working as soon as possible. He
    >> > is
    >> > currently in the United States. He was originally on a F1 visa but
    >> > the
    >> > petition was filed almost two years since he graduated from school
    >> > with
    >> > a Masters degree.
    >> >
    >> > As expected, the USCIS did not approve his change of status, and
    >> > requested for a copy of his Servis I-20. Since it's almost certain,
    >> > the
    >> > USCIS will not approve his change of status, he wants to travel
    >> > outside
    >> > the US and seek a H1B visa stamp at a US consulate abroad. The
    >> > problem
    >> > is, at this point, the petition has not been approved either since
    >> > the
    >> > employer got a letter from USCIS requested a copy of the Servis I-
    >> > 20.
    >> > What is the best way to go about this in order to have the USCIS
    >> > approve
    >> > the petition, and have him seek a Visa stamp abroad before he can
    >> > begin
    >> > working? Should his employer go ahead and send the expired I-20 as
    >> > requested, or should he write to USCIS, and explain to them that he
    >> > wishes to have the petition processed without a change of status.
    >> >
    >> > Thank you all for your advise.
    >> >
    >
    > O.k let me clarify....
    >
    > The H1B petition was only done a few months ago.....In April or May. Two
    > years is the time that has passed sinced he was in Valid F1 status i.e
    > since he graduated.
    >
    > USCIS has not denied the petition, but since he is in the US, the
    > employer had requested that the USCIS adjust/change his status to H1B.
    >
    > What the USCIS has done is to RFE the petition and asked the petitioner
    > to provide a copy of Servis I-20, as a proof of what status the
    > beneficiary is changing from.
    >
    > What I was asking, is whether its better for the petitioner to write to
    > the USCIS and request that they process the petition, without a change
    > of status, and then have the beneficiary travel outside the US to seek a
    > H1B stamp, or whether the petitioner should just foward the expired I-20
    > to USCIS, and leave them to decide on what they want to do.

I see what you are saying. I would recommend that you respond by including
the old I-20, and also include a letter explaining that you graduated two
years ago and have not been a student since. USCIS will in this case
actually approve the petition but probably deny the change of status. At
that point, you leave the USA to get an H-1B. You will have to get it in
your home country; no other consulate will touch your case.

You could leave earlier, but realistically there is no benefit to doing
that, and you might get very lucky and have USCIS actually approve your
change of status.

As an aside, I hope that your F-1 I-94 says "D/S" instead of a specific
date. If not, you may be in bigger trouble.

- --
Please visit my FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com before asking a question here.
It may answer your question. Remember, I am strictly a layperson without
any legal training. I encourage the reader to seek competent legal counsel
rather than relying on usenet newsgroups.
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Joma

Thanks Kevin for your feedback.

I will advise my friend to have his employer send a copy of his old I-20, and aletter explaining that he has been out of school.

And yes, you are right...his I-20 says admitted till ..."D/S"