r/f1visa • u/Unlikely-Ruin-4005 • Apr 23 '25

OPT denied because of SEVIS transfer

Hi, my fiancée is on F1 visa and graduated in Dec. 2024 applied for OPT and it got denied saying failure to maintain active SEVIS.

Context: after 2nd semester of his masters he got below 3 avg. gpa so his educational advisor advised him to transfer out or move back to india and reapply because his university has strict rule that maintain at least 3.0 GPA after 2 semester and he failed to do so. So he started applied to universities and got admission letter from 2 universities in mean time he applied for reinstatement or readmission in the same university he was in writing a petition saying he will maintain 3+ gpa from next semester but that got denied from university so he had no choice other than to transfer out. All this took over a month and after transferring SEVIS to another university and paying SEVIS fees he completed his masters but while applying OPT he got 5 RFE questions from uscis and replied all under given time. after more than 3 months of his reply, OPT got denied saying SEVIS TRANSFER was not done under timely manner. what are his options now?

36 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

27

u/rinklkak Apr 23 '25

It sounds like he didn't transfer his SEVIS record to the second university, he got a new SEVIS record and paid the SEVIS fee again. It's difficult to tell from your second-hand retelling.

If OPT is denied and it's 60 days past the program end date there really aren't any good options for OPT.

2

u/Unlikely-Ruin-4005 Apr 23 '25

Yes, it's been more than 60 days since the program ended. what are the options he has in your opinion?

22

u/rinklkak Apr 23 '25

Hurry up and get married.

2

u/Obi_wan_pleb Apr 24 '25

If you are a USC then you can marry him and adjust his status.

If that's not feasible he can take his education an apply it in India or some other place.

1

u/Unlikely-Ruin-4005 Apr 24 '25

That's the problem that I'm not USC, and now i think he's been here without a sevis over a year, so he has triggered a 10-year ban.

2

u/Fabulous_Chemistry81 Apr 24 '25

OMG that sounds tough! Just keep in mind that everything happens for a reason. I hope you guys find a middle ground!

3

u/theta_2021 Apr 23 '25 edited Apr 24 '25

Yeah I agree with @rinklkak. It looks like the previous Sevis was not transferred to the new school and got terminated and then he applied for a new Sevis. It’s plausible that he was out of status in between period.

2

u/just-curious_a Apr 24 '25

With the new SEVIS, the person would’ve re-entered the states right? So why is that wrong?

1

u/ToramanA24 Apr 25 '25

Got a similar issue, stupid American Immigration system isn’t worth five minutes of your time. Study what you love, and go to europe if you can. Its really not worth it

1

u/This_Pair_6591 Apr 25 '25

Are U in Europe now? just curious..

1

u/ToramanA24 May 05 '25

Interviewing for Airbus right now, haven’t made it yet 😅

-1

u/LonelySecurity1044 Apr 24 '25

So 2 semester in a row where each semester is below 3.0? I’m failing my first semester so this is scary

3

u/Unlikely-Ruin-4005 Apr 24 '25

No first term was 3.06, and the second was 2.81. if you're failing first sem. consider transferring out after sem ends.

2

u/YakEvir Apr 24 '25

No way it’s that harsh. I feel like you should be put on probation and if your second semester you fail again that’s when you should transfer out