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Hi,
I am currently on H4 visa and pursuing my MS. I have done 2 courses till now, i intend to travel to india in Dec. But currently i am confused whether i should get converted to f1 before dec and get it stamped or travel on H4? I was told by a friend of mine that it is very important to have F1 stamped else we cannot travel on OPT. I am really confused right now on what should i do. Please help me on this.
ygvc27 - welcome to forum. If your H4 is a valid visa, then you can certainly travel on H4 back into US.
Looks like your concern is ability to use your OPT. My "rudimentary" knowledge about OPT is that one can use it without the need to be on F1. Because OPT is nothing but an authorization to work.
However, you can always convert to F1 from H4 while in US if use of F1 status if mandatory to avail of OPT. So if I were you with a valid H4, I would rather save F1 stamping fees and just come back on H4.
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Originally Posted by ygvc27
As long as you are not working, maintain h4 and don't get f1, you are fine. Its better to be on h4 for travelling. But once you move to f1 and apply opt, that means h4 visa will not be valid anymore.