<p>You apply for OPT for specific time periods, e.g. June 14 - August 22. But once that time period has been approved, it is deducted from your 12-month total whether or not you actually work for the entire time.</p>
<p>OHHHHHHH okay that's not a problem I think I'll only need 4-6 months....9 months maximum for school if i get an internship after freshman which isn't likely...and I can use the remainder for after graduation while waiting for a work visa</p>
<p>thnx btw you helped me a lot</p>
<p>I assume there are special rules for Canadians, but for completeness sake I would like to mention that most internationals would need more than 8 months of OPT left to work continuously between graduation and your work visa application. Here is a possible time line:</p>
<p>May 31: Graduation
July 28: You start your job on OPT (has to be within 60 days of graduation)
April 1: Filing date for H-1B application. Your OPT has to last you until this date. From there on your OPT will be automatically extended until your H-1B visa application is rejected or until October 1, when your work visa goes into effect
October 1: Your H-1B visa goes into effect.</p>
<p>Unfortunately it is not possible under current conditions to apply for a work visa in the same year you are graduating because you need to have a Bachelor's degree at the time your employer petitions for your visa, and the petition has to happen on April 1 because there is a cap on the yearly number of H-1Bs issued and the quota is reached right on the first day that applications are accepted.</p>
<p>There are a few tricks to work around this issue if you want to stay in the States continuously and use your OPT during the summers. One is to graduate at the end of the summer term or the fall semester to reduce the months of OPT necessary to bridge the time until April 1. Another way is to go to grad school (you can apply for a H-1B while you are still in grad school because you do have a Bachelor's degree at that point in time). Some graduate programs even allow you to do internships for credit, so you might keep your current job as an "internship" for your graduate degree program until your work visa is approved, and then you can drop out of grad school.</p>
<p>These issues might not affect you as a Canadian (check up on the work rules for Canadians) but it might affect other international students on this board who have been following this thread.</p>