I’m in my STEM OPT grace period and considering this route. Wondering if anyone ran into RFEs or status issues after switching to a Day 1 CPT program.
It’s quite common, and I don’t believe it’s a concern for RFE.
RFE may occure when you apply for h1b. simply transfer your sevis from one school to another, usually won’t trigger an rfe
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OPT and CPT are both under F1 status, which does not involve a change of status or require going through USCIS. It’s simply a matter of transferring the SEVIS record from the previous school to the new one, and there won’t be an RFE.
you’d only be transferring your sevis, which wouldn’t involve scrutiny from uscis. if you got an rfe, it would come up later
Yes — I did the OPT → Day 1 CPT transition earlier this year and it was definitely more stressful than I expected. USCIS didn’t issue an RFE in my case, but I know a couple friends who did get RFEs, mostly around “maintenance of status” and CPT justification (like vague job duties not matching the degree field).
Picked a school with a decent track record not the cheapest one, but one that’s been through SEVP audits before and knows what they’re doing.