You visa is valid for your old university. As soon as you change your school visa will expire. So you again need to apply for visa with your new I 20

windycity

        If your F1 VISA is valid and if you have not changed your status ,You will be fine..you do not have to go for VISA interview..You can have I-20 of any University.(It does not have to be the same as in your VISA)..Have fun and good luck for your PHD.

1. Currently at OPT (which expires on June 2009)

2. Applying for admission for Fall 2009 (which is Sept 2009). Suppose you got admission on March-April 2009.

3. Suppose new college issued I20 on April 2009. Here all your OPT/Visa all will be canceled and you will be in new F1 status. You will be in legal status as long as you maintain your F1 status and you don't have to apply for Visa if you don't leave the country.

4. Suppose you went to Nepal on April-May. You need to "APPLY FOR NEW VISA".

That is what I know. Please consult experts. Sajha is the place where people share their views and some share their experience.

Make sure you don't want to stuck and Nepal.

1. If student transfer college then h/she do not need to go for stamping as long as h/she is not travelling abroad and do need to worry about visa expires as long as h/she maintain status (doesn't matter F1/H1/J1 etc or got changed).

2. If you have valid visa and you are on the same college then you don't have to go for stamping.

That is what I know and that is what 4-5 years ago. I have no idea if rules got changed. Why don't you consult your international advisor when you get admission or consult your current Int Advisor.

windycity

      Yeap,OPT is also F1 and you are good to go..

target2green

1. Currently at OPT (which expires on June 2009)--Since OPT is also an F1 status,he can take another I-20 from any US university and he can enter in his exsiting VISA..if OPT expires in June and he does not leave country within 60 days of expiry and also do not get admission to any college,University,his VISA will be void..Unless and until he maintains D/S,his F1 VISA is still valid..

2. Applying for admission for Fall 2009 (which is Sept 2009). Suppose you got admission on March-April 2009. ---if he leaves country in Valid OPT period,He will be fine..

3. Suppose new college issued I20 on April 2009. Here all your OPT/Visa all will be canceled and you will be in new F1 status. You will be in legal status as long as you maintain your F1 status and you don't have to apply for Visa if you don't leave the country.---yes,As soon as you take I-20,your OPT get expired but you will still be in F1 status--so you will not have to apply F1 VISA to enter USA if you already have VISA valid for that period..

4. Suppose you went to Nepal on April-May. You need to "APPLY FOR NEW VISA".

   -No

 *I am not a legal expert,please verify it with your international advisor*

You DO NOT need to go for VISA stamping as its valid until 2011. You seem to be on-status all along, and your VISA is valid until 2011.

Here is what you need to do,

1. Transfer your SEVIS information : After you get acceptance letter from the new school for your PhD, they won't issue you an I-20 until you ask your former school to transfer your SEVIS information. So you need to transfer your SEVIS information to get your new-I-20 issued

2. Expiration of OPT:  Regardless  of your OPT expiration date on the EAD card, as soon your former school releases your SEVIS information, the OPT expires immediately. So in your case, you plan to leave for NEPAL in April 09, you should have made the new school issue the new I-20

3. Validation of new I-20: Until you sign the new I-20, its not valid. So, as soon you get the I-20, sign it and send one copy to school and other copy to yourself( they will send you two copies, one for their record and other for yourself, or you can make a copy, keep yourself the original, and the copied to the school)

4. Signing the new I-20 by the new school's international student advisor:   Before you leave for Nepal, you need to make the new school's international advisor sign I-20 at the third page, which basically is the permission to re-enter the country and attend the same schoo after a temporary absence from the USA within a year of the date that the registar signs that form.

Cosultation: As soon you receive the new I-20, you need to consult with the new international studnet advisor about your travel plan to home, so that they sign your I-20. Also, make sure that you carry all your I-20's, orginal copies and EAD card along with your passport and Social Security card when travelling.

As long as you have valid VISA, you don't have to worry about re-entering, unless you have come criminal record in USA. I had three I-20's from three different schools with me ( travelled in summer 2006, VISA expiration date was December 2007)

Disclaimer : This is my personal experience, please do your best judgement.