Hi guys, I filed regular H1b application and got a receipt number. I am going to enroll in a Kaplan course next week so that I be in states after my grace period (next month).
Kaplan are promising that they can issue I-20 by May 29. How odd is there that H1b filed under regular processing be issued before June...? Just worried that incase if H1b is issued before I-20 from Kaplan, then H1b will be void...
How does this thing work..?

My friend,
1. You can be in one and only one visa status. not on h1,f1 and k1(if any)
2. Even while you are on H1B you can get enrolled in Kaplan. It is benificial soem times because if your meet the requirement of state residency you can claim in state tuttion in state universities. However private university does not provide this.

Just my one cent.
dawn

Your H1B will be void if you got F1. Go to Nepal in the earlier of the grace period. Dont spend all the grace period in the us otherwise embassy might ask you why did you stay for whole grace period. That might indicate that you wanted to make money during the grace period too or you had to spend lot of time for preparation to leave USA and this is not what you may want to do.

if you're in OPT now and have received a receipt # for H1-b, but you are enrolling in kaplan for the sake of status, you are fine. In this case, H1-b won't be affected. Since you're in OPT, ie F-1 visa, you wont have any change of status if you enroll in another program. However, if you applied for any different visa type, H1-b would be affected. I'm in the same state, and i confirmed this with my int'l student advisor. Talk to your int'l student advisor at your school for confirmation.

also note that you have 60 days grace period after your OPT expires to stay in US, but without work.

This is confusing. If there is not a gap between OPT and H1B why would you want to apply Kaplan for your status. If you have gap between them then you must leave USA and get new visa with H1B status.

. H1-b only starts from October 1st. But OPT may expire earlier. In most cases in June/July. After OPT expires, you have 60 days grace period. For example, your OPT expires on June 1st, then you cannot work after June 2nd. Then your 60 days grace period continues until end of July. Then you have status gap in August and September. If you join any institute, remember to cover this gap, there is no point in joining Kaplan during the grace period. Talk with kaplan about the validity of the I-20 they'll issue. To my knowledge, their courses are max. of 2 months. I doubt they'll issue I-20 for more than 2 months. As for me, I'm joining college for the fall semester, which starts late August. And that's fine, as long as I get my I-20 before my 60 days grace period ends.