🔺 r/f1visauStock-Development605·24 days ago
The CPT pause has me second guessing my move to the US. US or stay in India?
Hi..a quick background about me: - 3 years of work experience as a product engineer and 1 year as an asst. product manager and currently between jobs - MS in Engineering Management - Visa was approved yesterday, waiting on my passport - This is a deferred admit from last year. I couldn't get a visa appointment in time then - University allows me to arrive by end of this month The thing holding me back is the CPT pause. My university has said they are working on it, either adjusting the curriculum or the wording so the co-op qualifies but there is no confirmed outcome yet. If CPT does not come back in time, the entire plan rests on OPT alone and that feels like a big gamble for the money involved. The program itself is not academically heavy, which I see is as more room to upskill, network and actually convert something into a full time role. But that whole strategy assumes work authorization during the program. Take CPT out and the value proposition changes a lot. The alternative is staying in India and finding a job. I have been getting screening calls but nothing has converted to interviews yet, so I have no offer to weigh this against. Staying back means betting on a market that…