Reddit report of a STEM OPT visa being cancelled in Toronto after 12 hours of questioning

[Rose711 35]

I saw this in r/immigration and I thought people might be interested in the information. I’ll copy the post but the consensus seems to be that the OP had worked a couple of months more than a year ago  for a third party company . I’m not actually sure what happened.

 

I was denied entry to US on f1 STEM OPT at Canada airport US CBP and my visa was terminated.

u/liquidf4ntasy21h

I was questioned and reviewed for 12+ hours and they terminated my f1 visa and I’m flying back to India. 

Will update soon as I’m still flying!

What a way to begin the new year.

 

 

Yes I’ve been working since 1.5yrs on STEM. It was because I had submitted a offer letter from a consultancy during my initial opt for a couple of months so I could find a job. They reviewed all of my offer letters, my pay stubs, even demanded to see if the money was actually deposited in my bank account (I opened my bank account on my phone and showed them the statements too). Seized my phone/laptop for more evidence.

Edit: also said that they had more time to interrogate and I was not going to enter US in any way.

here’s the link to the original post:

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by Rose711

[Lemonslice 4,555]

Unfortunately, a visa does not guarantee you'll be let in. I remember a few stories of K1 being refused entry over the years.

[Rose711 35]

18 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

Unfortunately, a visa does not guarantee you'll be let in. I remember a few stories of K1 being refused entry over the years.

Yes I know that’s true. Anecdotally people are saying that more scrutiny is being given to F1 and OPT visas. 

[igoyougoduke 1,605]

OP was probably working illegally. i mean third party placement on STEM OPT has been ruled to violate F1 visa laws 

[Rose711 35]

Just now, Donald120383 said:

OP was probably working illegally. i mean third party placement on STEM OPT has been ruled to violate F1 visa laws 

I think the story is that he did that under his  initial OPT visa and then had a different job under the STEM OPT visa.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

2 minutes ago, Rose711 said:

I think the story is that he did that under his  initial OPT visa and then had a different job under the STEM OPT visa.

Previous violations still count.

highly unlikely that person will get another non-immigrant visa to the US.

Edited January 2, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[kris&me 572]

Post is from a student from India

and i remember earlier newspaper accounts (several) like the following one where 600 India nationals were deported

 

ttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/67768181.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

 

seems that an organization set up a fake university In MI  to target India nationals here without proper authoriaztion

 

there were several ICE investigations and raids as reported by several news articles 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Even without fake universities/visa mills, it is my understanding that there is a lot of fudging around what people do on OPT. Not surprised they are cracking down/increasing scrutiny as per 3rd post. 

[Sm1smom 242]

Looks like what the person did is in line with what’s reported on this news article:

 

Thousands of Foreign Students in US on Student Visas May Have “Worked” For Fake Companies

 

Makes sense if the government is now cracking down on them.

[Rose711 35]

Maybe schools will start telling grads not to work for these companies. Though I guess students should know that 3rd party placements aren’t allowed. If this student hadn’t left to get married, they probably would have been fine to finish STEM OPT. Probably would have had an issue if he came back after that, but who knows.

 

The government needs to go after these companies. This approach if just finding people at the border seems haphazard at best.

[Sm1smom 242]

Personally, I don’t have an issue with the government bringing down the hammer against these students at the POE or while in the US, in addition to their going after the fraudulent companies. I’m tired of people looking for loopholes in the immigration system (or creating new ones) and exploiting them. 

 

I find it it hard to believe someone who pays some unscrupulous company to provide them with some fake employment papers, or knowingly undertake employment (while on OPT) in an area not related to their field of study isn’t aware of the fact that what they’re doing is illegal.