How can i extend my Optional practical training visa?

Question

my visa is up in december of this year how can i extend it

Answer 1

Only if you qualify on this new policy

SUMMARY: Currently, foreign students in F-1 nonimmigrant status who have been enrolled on a full-time basis for at least one full academic year in a college, university, conservatory, or seminary certified by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's (ICE's) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) are eligible for 12 months of optional practical training (OPT) to work for a U.S. employer in a job directly related to the student's major area of study. This interim final rule extends the maximum period of OPT fro m 12 months to 29 months for F-1 students who have completed a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree and accept employment with employers enrolled in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS') E-Verify employment verification program. This interim rule requires F-1 students with an approved OPT extension to report changes in the student's name or address and changes in the employer's name or address as well as periodically verify the accuracy of this reporting information. The rule also requires the employers of F-1 students with an extension of post-completion OPT authorization to report to the student's designated school official (DSO) within 48 hours after the OPT student has been terminated from, or otherwise leaves, his or her employment with that employer prior to end of the authorized period of OPT.

http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP.js...

Answer 2

once the opt expires, it expires.  you would probably want to apply for an H1b visa in april or enroll again in school (whether it be a masters or phd degree).  since the h1b visa doesn't start accepting application until april 1st of every year and you actualy start working with the company in october, you are late for this.  you find a job that is willing to sponsor you and in the meantime return home and apply from abroad at your local us embassy..and return in october of next year to start work.

if going out of the country is not an option, then do what my friend did. a little background of her story---->she graduated from school in may '06, got her opt to expire july '07. she knew she couldn't extend it and she couldn't apply fro the h1b visa in april 06, b/c she was still in school.  leaving the country was not an option nor going back to school for a phd (she already got her masters). she got a job and applied for the h1b visa in april '07 and got it. the dilemma------->she knew that if her opt expired in july '07, and the opt technically didn't start until october,1 '07, she would be out of status between july to september 30. so what she did was find a junior college, went to the international student office and asked if she could study there starting summer school. if you're on opt, you're still considered under the f-1 status. the school said that for international students who already hold a bachelors or higher degree, in order to study at the level of the jc, you would have to have a reason, such as a change of careers.  my friend got a degree in the health care field, but at the jc, was a business major.  she studied at the jc for the summer until october 1st.

last but not least, get married.

i don't know of any new law where there are exceptions to the rule, but this is what my friend did, and it worked for her.

good luck!