Posted by: PallaGhareAntare March 24, 2008
H1-B & OPT : Things I Know
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14 or 16 months?

What I understand is that you get a grace period of 60 days after your OPT expires no matter when you start your OPT.

I've checked a lot of University web sites and found that almost all say that you get 60 days grace period after your OPT expires which is not counted against the initial 60 days you get. 

But I've also found a few sites that say that you get only 14 months in total including the 60 day grace period. If your DSO believes in this, you might get into trouble if you need to transfer once your OPT expires and your DSO tells you that you are already out of status. So try to confirm in writing (email) what your DSO thinks before filing OPT application.

Personally, I believe that you can still use 16 months.

Few University sites that say you still get the 60 days after OPT no matter when it started:

http://www.virginia.edu/iso/issp/f1/graceperiod.html

http://www.wsuoiss.wayne.edu/sections/news_and_announcements/faqs

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Immigration-Issues-344/OPT-grace-period.htm

http://www.viu.edu/current-students/opt.html

http://oisf.njit.edu/docs/opt-faqs.pdf  

www.isso.iastate.edu/OPT%20Presentation.ppt

I found one that says you get only 14 months:
http://www.middlebury.edu/NR/rdonlyres/FC642780-2358-4F59-813D-1B88C5928ED8/0/PostcompletionOPTguidelines.pdf
 

When I started this thread, user bibas100 had doubts about this 16 months thing. Recently he had started another thread (http://www.sajha.com/sajha/html/OpenThread.cfm?forum=55&ThreadID=56209) that says:

"I have seen this question come up again and again and I would like to share this information to everyone concerned.

If you are graduating in May 08, get your OPT starting date sometime in July 08.  You get to choose your starting date. You get 60 days to start your OPT after graduation and take full advantage of it. Also, you will get 60 day grace period after your OPT is over. This means that you will in fact get to stay legally for like  16 months after your graduation. So, you may not have to leave work for a long period of time if you get your H1B in April 09."

I believe bibas must have done enough research before asserting that one can actually get 16 months considering his earlier reservation.

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