Hello all,
My h4 visa got expired in September 2018, and joined college to do masters this spring 2019, and planning to convert to f1 this summer in order to utilise cpt and opt further, so please let me know where should I do the conversion process either in India, my home country or can I go for Canada for stamping. Thanks in advance!
If you are already in US, you can just do a Change of Status and continue to stay in US on F1 status and study, work on OPT. If you plan to exit US, then you can go for F1 visa stamping. It is recommended to go to home country.
Thanks a lot for your response, can I go to Canada or Mexico for f1 stamping even after my h4 visa got expired… the issue is like I have only 2 week time for f1 stamping, and let me know I am planning to transfer to another college from this summer, will it be a problem for my f1 conversion.
If H4 expired in Sep 2018, are the dates still current on your I-94? Have you been out of status? If this is the case, the Dean of Admissions of the accepting school has to retroactively (backdate) show your dates of admission. Travel outside the country is not advisable. Apply for change of status first and plan for stamping at a later date. The alternate question of carrying your I-20 etc to a neighboring country and get a brand new F-1 stamped without applying for change of status has been asked before. You might be approved or you might be asked to go to your home country to do this. The latter puts high stress on your clock because you will have to leave as ordered if asked to get the stamping in your home country
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Thank you for your response. My 797 document got extended till June 2021 but visa got expired in passport. Travelling to India and getting stamping is highly expensive for me now, so looking for an alternative…
Mainly I am having only 3 weeks summer break in which I have to do stamping and transfer to another university.