WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it would allow
F-1 students who are the beneficiaries of selected H-1B petitions for fiscal year (FY) 2009 to request a change
of status in lieu of consular notification.
This short-term measure follows an April 8, 2008 interim final rule that, among other actions, automatically
extends the F-1 status of qualifying students who are the beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions to cover the
gap between the expiration of a student’s F-1 status and the H-1B employment start date of October 1. To
obtain the automatic extension, a student must be the beneficiary of an H-1B petition filed for the next fiscal
year (with an October 1 employment start date) and have requested a change of status. For F-1 student
beneficiaries of petitions that USCIS subsequently rejects, denies, or revokes, or for those who violate their
status, the automatic extension terminates at that time.
Since the rule was published after the filing period had closed for new FY 2009 H-1B petitions, many
petitioners of F-1 students did not include a request for a change of status with the H-1B petition. Instead,
petitioners requested consular notification based on the assumption that these students would have been
required to leave the United States to obtain an H-1B visa at a consular office abroad.
USCIS has determined that it will allow petitioners of F-1 students whose H-1B petitions were randomly
selected to receive an H-1B visa number for FY2009 following the closure of the filing period, to now request
a change of status on behalf of qualified beneficiaries, if such requests are received within 30 days of the
issuance of the receipt notice.
To request a change of status in lieu of consular notification, petitioners (or authorized representatives) should
send an e-mail with the request to the USCIS service center where their petition is pending within 30 days of
the issuance of the receipt notice. Special email addresses for each service center have been established
specifically for this purpose. These addresses are listed below and are posted on USCIS’ website. Petitioners
should e-mail their requests for change of status in lieu of consular notification upon receipt of the notice so
the agency has the request before completing H-1B petition adjudication. The requests should include the
receipt number and both the petitioner’s and beneficiary’s name, date of birth, I-94 (Arrival/Departure Record)
number, and Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) number. Please do not contact the
service center about requesting a change of status until after receiving the receipt notice.
E-mail addresses for requesting change of status are:
• Vermont Service Center
o Premium Processing cases: VSCPPCAPGAP.Vscppcapgap@dhs.gov
o Non-Premium cases: VSCNONPPCAPGAP.Vscnonppcapgap@dhs.gov
• California Service Center
o Premium Processing cases: CSC.ppcapgap@dhs.gov
o Non-Premium cases: CSC.nonppcapgap@dhs.gov
NOTE: If an F-1 student, who is the beneficiary of a selected 2009 H-1B petition, has a pending request to
change to a status other than H-1B but now wants to file under the process outlined above, he or she should
withdraw the previously filed change in accordance with established regulations.