OPT Problem

[Shanu 0]

Hi.. am priya .. my younger sister is in US just done with masters this dec 2015 and she should come to india in the month of feb 2016 for 10days at any cost due to personal problems..

She applied for opt long back but it got delivered to wrong address .. and they asked her to re apply .. and my doubts are :

1. Will it take same three months time for the opt to reach her like the first time?

2. Can she travel to india before she gets opt and go back safely to US ?

[Mollie09 1,543]

OPT is a status, not a thing. What she probably had delivered was her EAD, which allows her to work.

Is her F1 visa still valid? That's what she needs to enter the US. If it's not, she'll have to renew it to use her OPT, which is usually tricky because she's no longer studying and F1 is a student visa.

[Ontarkie 14,227]

~~Moved to Student and Exchange Visitor Visas from US Citizenship General Discussion~~

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

OPT is not a visa, if her visa F1 is out, she will have some sorts of visa to come back.

[arken 4,197]

Confirm first if they are asking her to reapply as a new application or for a replacement. Either way, the processing time is same as previous.

I guess her F1 visa is not expired yet. With valid F1 visa, new I-20 and pending OPT application, one is allowed to travel and come back to US (still at the discretion of the POE officer). However, if OPT is approved while out of the US, the person needs the employment offer letter to be able to return back to US.

Since your sister's OPT has already been approved, if the new application is considered a replacement application, she will need the employment offer letter and possibly the new EAD card too to be able to return back to US.

[GreenRide 0]

1. 3 months is the average time to process the application, it could be sooner. She may ask to speed up the process if she has a job offer. I remember my school includes a note to ask for speeding the case when they helped me filing the application. However, it's up to USCIS to grant the request or not. In my case, I got my EAD card in 2 months.

2. Student can go home and re-enter U.S while on status with a valid F-1 visa. If a new F-1 visa stamp is needed to re-enter, it's best to have proof to show that you have your OPT like your EAD card, or your OPT pending case like a receipt notice when going to interview. (an employment offer letter too if she has, like the comment above said).

Nobody can guarantee the best chance to get new visa stamp in this case, every school adviser will tell you it's a risk to travel during OPT. But you said she must be home at any cost, so she has to do what she has to do, and this risk is the cost.

Best of luck.