May 12, 2005

Certain F-1 Students Advised Not to Travel

There is a well settled unofficial policy that allows F-1 students to exit and re-enter the US while an application to change status is either pending or approved for a future start date. This, despite an official policy that states that any application filed with US CIS by an F-1 student may be deemed abandoned if he/she travels while it is pending.

However, recent issues make travel for F-1 students generally inadvisable. There have been problems with the SEVIS system where students approved for prospective H-1B employment have had their SEVIS registrations accidentally cancelled, making re-entry to the US troublesome. Furthermore, and in this connection, new policies preclude J and F holders from traveling and re-entering the US during their optional practical training (OPT) periods IF the same persons are not working nor have a job offer under the same OPT. If this is the case, the OPT will be deemed abandoned upon leaving the US.

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