April 18, 2008 - USCIS announced today that F-1 students who are the beneficiaries of selected H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2009 may request a change of status in lieu of consular notification. This permitted request is in conjunction with the recently announced interim final rule that automatically extends the F-1 status of students who are beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions to cover the gap between the expiration of the OPT and the H-1B start date of October 1, 2008. The change of status request must be received by USCIS within 30 days of the issuance of the receipt notice.

BAL Comment: USCIS provided email addresses to submit change of status requests. BAL will be notifying those beneficiaries who are eligible to request a change of status in lieu of consular notification and will submit the requests accordingly.