I am F-1, applying for J-1.

F-1 OPT Status expires 1/1/04, the J-1 application will go out this week. If
I leave the US (anywhere except canada/mexico) will I be allowed re-entry
after 1/1/04?

Also, if I don't leave, am I legal till the J-1 comes through?

Am I also right in assuming that I cannot work between 1/1/04 and the date
of the J1 coming through?

thanks
-sachin

"sachin" <*remove*drunkpoet69@icqmail.com> wrote in message
news:bpuf9r$3ek$1@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU...
I am F-1, applying for J-1. F-1 OPT Status expires 1/1/04, the J-1 application will go out this week.
If I leave the US (anywhere except canada/mexico) will I be allowed re-entry after 1/1/04?

Yes, on this condition: you obtain a J-1 visa stamp at a consular post, and
enter the U.S. in J-1 status. Your leaving the U.S. (even to Canada or
Mexico) constitutes an abandonment of the I-539. Even if the I-539 is
approved later because USCIS does not figure out that you left, that
approval would not be a valid approval.
Also, if I don't leave, am I legal till the J-1 comes through?

Yes, if the J-1 start date on the DS 2019 is no later than 1/2/04.
Am I also right in assuming that I cannot work between 1/1/04 and the
date of the J1 coming through?

You are right about that.