I am currently working on OPT that will expire May 15th. My employer has filed an H1B petition for me with employment to begin October 1st. …

… This year, because there were more petitions filed than H1B visas available, USCIS announced that some of the properly filed petitions would be returned if they are not picked in a lottery. Unfortunately, USCIS has not issued a receipt for my employer’s petition and we are not sure if it was selected for processing. Am I eligible to continue working past the OPT expiration date based on the cap-gap extension, even if I still do not have the receipt notice?

Answer

In a situation like yours, when an H1B petition has been filed but has not yet been receipted or returned, and the OPT ends before June 1st, your DSO should be able to issue a new cap-gap I-20 until June 1st. If your petition is accepted for processing, and USCIS issues a receipt notice, you should contact your DSO to issue you another cap-gap I-20 until September 30th. (09.May.2014)

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