My Designated School Official says I can't ever apply for an OPT, and I think they're wrong.
EDIT: I got this reply from the SEVP that pretty unambiguously seems to say that level-change shouldn't reset my eligibility. Hope my DSO changes their mind.
I'm doing a 4+1 bachelor's + master's dual degree (at the same school) but because of advanced standing, I can graduate in 4.5 years instead of 5 which saves me a lot of money, so I'm inclined to do that.
My DSO said that because I've had a level-change after my 4 years, and I haven't been a grad student for a whole year, I can't apply for an OPT, but by that logic, I can't ever apply for an OPT now unless I stay another semester full-time. That seems really wrong, so I called up USCIS and also the SEVP number on DHS's website and they both said I should be fine* citing the same USCIS page that I sent to my DSO saying that the 1-year requirement only seems to be listed under pre-completion OPT and not post. Additionally, it says nothing about my eligibility resetting after changing my level from undergrad to grad. I had applied thrice successfully for OPTs as an undergrad, but I know that the amount of time you have for an OPT resets when you change your level, and my DSO keeps bringing that up for some reason, so I really don't know what's going on.
Has anyone else been able to apply for a post-completion OPT (successfully) one semester after a level change?
What are my options here?
* My only concern is that the people I spoke to at USCIS and DHS seem to be agents going off the same publicly available info that I cited to my DSO, so I'm not sure if they're legal experts, but I'm 99% sure I should be fine to apply.
[link] [comments]
source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/qctr1y/my_designated_school_official_says_i_cant_ever/