Immigration Issues need to take a Month long break

I am looking for some advice on how to deal with my current situation. I am an international student and I graduated from college in 2016. I am currently in working in the US (under OPT) at a boutique, however my OPT work authorization expires in a few weeks and I recently managed to get approved for a green card. I will not be getting my green card work authorization for at least 2.5 months. My current firm will most likely not be OK with a 2 month gap so I have to consider a few options. I am working with an immigration attorney but their doesn't seem to be any way to expedite my work authorization.

1) Start recruiting networking to try and land something in September. I do not have a target background nor a stellar GPA and I really struggled to get my current role. I am also unsure how to explain my unemployment gap.

2) Go back home (think Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru) and try to land an IB gig there for a year. I think I would be a strong candidate in that market and would be able to find something fairly fast. This option is not appealing because of all the effort I went through to secure my permanent residency. Further it may delay my green card by 1+ years.

3) Try to move into a different industry and try to position myself for b-school in a few years. Same issues as above.

If anyone has gone through a similar situation I would greatly appreciate the advice.

10 Comments
 

At this point not able to offer any advice, i'm in same boat though my case is very complicated, expired STEM OPT, still in country but remain hopeful. Not sure why you're worried about a 2 month gap, too short. Good luck.

 

Hey man, I'm currently an international student looking to work in IB. What were the steps you took to be able to work in the US after school? Was it harder to find a job as an international?

 

Have STEM OPT. Can confirm - still really difficult to find a job. I've had a ton of first round interviews only to be shut down by HR telling me they don't want to sponsor H1B.

 

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