<p>Hi, I am a senior in Massachusetts right now. I was wondering how visas would work if I, for last semester, delay my graduation.</p>
<p>I want to:
- work for my college full-time for one semester (Jan to May 2013)
- go travel for 2 months in America (June to July 2013)
- work for my college again (August to October 2013)
- then travel for the rest of the fall semester and the next spring semester (November 2013 to August 2014, first month in America, the rest elsewhere)
- come back for one last semester to graduate (September to December 2014)</p>
<p>So I will be taking 3 semesters off in total. I was wondering how visas might work in this situation. Do I need to apply for OPT if I work for my college? Will my F1 expire? Do I need to apply for a new F1? Thanks a lot!! :)</p>
<p>The only way to work for your college full-time on an F-1 visa is during school breaks and on OPT after graduation. (If you are attending classes less than full time during the school year, your student visa becomes invalid. If you are attending classes full-time, you are not allowed to work a full-time job.)</p>
<p>After graduation, you have two options to work for your college full-time: you can work on OPT or apply for an H-1B work visa. If you want to travel for extended periods of time, you will need to apply for a tourist visa. </p>
<p>I don’t see a way for you to work for your school full-time (except during school breaks) before graduation.</p>
<p>To be honest, I don’t trust them 100%. Haha, so I’m trying to get 2nd or 3rd opinions just to be sure. I am meeting with them soon though. </p>
<p>Anyway, I think my option right now is to apply OPT for that semester I am taking off? Then I can change my visa status to a tourist status for a few months. I probably need to apply for a new F1 when I want to come back for the last semester? Do you know what will happen to my OPT? Will I still have the remaining months, or will they all disappear (given the new F1 visa and I wouldn’t have a year enrollment). Thanks!</p>
<p>Let me be unambiguously clear: you CANNOT use OPT to work for your college full-time during a semester before you have graduated. Until you graduate, you need to be a full-time student during the school year or else your F-1 visa becomes invalid. (You are allowed to work for your school part-time while classes are in session, or full-time during breaks, without using OPT though.)</p>
<p>
Yes, if you switch to a different visa status in the interm, you need to apply for a new F-1 visa. As far as I understand, you cannot use OPT until you have completed one full academic year on that new visa. I don’t know if this only counts for pre-completion OPT or also post-graduation OPT. Your international student office might be able to tell you.</p>
<p>Note that OPT is limited to 12 months per degree level. That means you get a total of 12 months of OPT for your Bachelor’s degree, regardless of how many F-1 visas you apply for or how many colleges you attend. </p>
<p>Also note that OPT can only be used for employment directly related to your major. </p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the help, barium! Really appreciate it. Yeah, looks like my grand scheme isn’t happening. Sigh… I guess I should just go traveling after graduation. I am so sick of the US immigration system. Being a citizen would be nice.</p>