Indian student's F-1 OPT termination after H-1B withdrawal sparks discussion, here's how to fix or reinstate your SEVIS

An Indian F-1 student reported on Reddit that their OPT was terminated after an H-1B withdrawal prior to its start date.

An Indian student on F-1 OPT reported their situation on Reddit after their OPT was automatically terminated due to the revocation of their H-1B modification of status approval prior to the commencement date.

After an H-1B withdrawal, an Indian F-1 OPT student reported their status was automatically terminated.

According to the user, the company submitted a withdrawal in early September, while their H-1B was authorized to begin in October. On October 1, SEVIS data were automatically canceled, and on October 4, the H-1B cancellation appeared on the USCIS portal.

The student further stated that until USCIS delivered the formal withdrawal letter, their DSO (Designated School Official) was unable to request a SEVIS data correction. Has anyone else experienced the same thing—that is, having SEVIS terminated due to a delayed H-1B withdrawal? the student asked. In order to receive advice from those who had faced such problems, they posted, “Were you able to get your SEVIS fixed or reinstated?”

Expert weighs in

The problem stemmed from the H-1B change of status being activated automatically on October 1st, despite the employer having already submitted a withdrawal request, explained Adesh Nandal, an advocate with Jotwani Associates.

“The individual’s predicament arises from the automatic activation of their H-1B change of status (COS) on October 1, despite the employer filing a withdrawal request prior to the start date. Because USCIS had not issued written confirmation of the withdrawal, the SEVP system auto-completed the SEVIS record, effectively terminating their F-1 status,” Nandal told Business Standard.

What alternatives are available to correct SEVIS termination?

The main option is to request formal withdrawal confirmation from USCIS, the expert explained, adding that once received, the Designated School Official (DSO) can ask for a SEVIS data fix, which allows SEVP to retrospectively rectify the termination and restore the student's F-1 status.

If that is not feasible, the next step is to submit an F-1 restoration petition to USCIS under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(16), as per Nandal.

Reddit users react to post

Meanwhile, several people reacted to the Reddit post, with one saying: “My friend was in similar situation couple of years back. He was working for Amazon during his F-1 OPT and his H1B was picked in the lottery. Due to some circumstances, he was part of the mass layoffs that Amazon did.”

“This happened two months before start of his H-1B visa i.e. October 1. He hired a lawyer as he was not longer in any visa status (You are no longer on F-1 visa when you get your i797A approval for H-1B). Lawyer told him to leave US asap as he was not on any visa at the moment and he did leave US in next 2 weeks.”

“Been there. Escalate it to PDSO and they would raise a ticket based on the case tracker. Your employer should receive the official revocation notice through email and ask them to forward it to you,” another user said.

The post has stirred debate among overseas students and H-1B applicants dealing with unanticipated visa hurdles, emphasizing the difficulties of negotiating US immigration procedures in the face of job changes and administrative delays.

Disclaimer: The story is based on a Reddit user's post and HT.com cannot independently verified the user's claim.