USCIS Provides F-1 OPT Cap-Gap Fix
The USCIS announced late last week that it would permit F-1 students who have properly filed H-1B petitions in April and have their petition selected during the random lottery to request a change of status processing in lieu of consular notification.
The Problem
On April 8, 2008, USCIS announced a rule which would automatically extend the F-1 status of students who are beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions so that the cap between the F-1 status expiration and the employment start date of October 1 would be automatically covered under F-1. However, the rule was published after the filing period for FY 2009 H-1B had closed and as a result, many F-1 holders who applied for H-1B visas calculated that their F-1 status would expire before October 1 and therefore they would have to leave the U.S. and requested consular notification on their H-1B application.
The Fix
As a result of the timing of the new rule, USCIS exacerbated a problem which the new rule aimed to solve. To its credit, USCIS released guidance that it would allow F-1 holders whose H-1B petitions were randomly selected to receive H-1B visa number for FY 2009, to now request a change of status processing, if such requests are received within 30 days of the issuance of the H-1B receipt notice.
Procedure To Request Change of Status
The procedure to request a change of status in lieu of consular notification, petitioners (or authorized representative) should send an email with the request to the USCIS service center where the H-1B petition is pending within 30 days of the issuance of the receipt notice. The requests should include the receipt number and both the petitioner’s and beneficiary’s name, date of birth, I-94 number, and SEVIS number.
The e-mail addresses for requestig change of status are:
- Vermont Service Center
- Premium Processing cases: VSCPPCAPGAP.Vscppcapgap@dhs.gov
- Non-Premium cases: VSCNONPPCAPGAP.Vscnonppcapgap@dhs.gov
- California Service Center
- Premium Processing cases: CSC.ppcapgap@dhs.gov
- Non-Premium cases: CSC.nonppcapgap@dhs.gov
