Need help/suggestion Situation: A friend of mine has become out of status unknowingly. He graduated in December 2003 and had applied for OPT. Since his OPT card did not come in time, he went to the local INS office for a temporary card (which has been misplaced). He has a valid SEVIS I-20 that says the OPT period is from 12/03 to 12/04. Now that the OPT has expired and that no H1-B sponsorship, he's wanting to go back to school. To do so, we went to the school he graduated from to sign a transfer release form, but his SEVIS record said that the OPT was denied. The International Student Advisor was unaware of it nor was he himself. There was no rejection letter of any sort (or may be the Int'l Student Advisor got it and threw it away or it got lost in the mail). The Int'l Student Advisor is now in the process of finding out why it was denied from the INS people. So, if it was denied then he has been out of status for almost 6 months now. We are thinking of applying for F1 reinstatement as he became out of status with no fault of his. What are the chances of getting approved? What happens if the reinstatement is denied? Can this guy stay here when the reinstatement decision is pending? What happens to the 180 day rule that say if you overstay for more than 180 days, you are barred from entering US for the next ten years. Will that apply for him? If you have witnessed a situation where a friend/relative had to go through the INS F1 reinstatement, could you pls share it with me. Desperately in need of help. Thanks.