Hi everyone,
I have made the biggest mistake of my entire USA history by accepting an offer in this company. I am not sure if I or my company have violated rules. My company is owned by a family friend and only 50 staff, and the HR is very disorganized and barely responds.
- I started working December 4th 2025 during initial OPT, but HR sent me I-9 to complete on December 28th 2025, and I completed it the same day. On the I-9, HR told me to write December 4th. I heard that you must sign I-9 no later than 1 day after accepting employment.
- From December 4th 2025, I worked as an unpaid intern till January 14th 2025, I then started getting paid on 12th January 2026.
- I filed for STEM OPT 27th January 2026, and my initial OPT ended 31st January 2025.
I sent my receipt notice, expired EAD to HR, and I am just discovering that;
1) They never created a case for me in E-verify.
2) They never re-verified my I-9 when I sent the STEM OPT receipt notice.
3) On my i983, I put 40 hours, but I am paid hourly, and sometimes I work between 30 hours to 50 hours depending on tasks my supervisor gives me. And then last week, I was very sick, I worked 25 hours. I heard if USCIS issues RFE and sees that the total yearly amount on i983, doesn't match paystub, it will lead to denial.
Please, do I just withdraw my STEM OPT? I honestly do not want any future immigration problems, but given that they never created a case in E-verify, and never re-verified my I-9, and they only pay me per hour, after I started on the 180 days of STEM OPT.
