Hello Everyone,

I have a rather peculiar situation, and any advice of yours will be deeply appreciated. Here is my case. I am currently on H1-B visa status working as an IT consultant for an Indian consulting firm. I was on bench without getting paid and no payroll of course until recently i have been placed on a project to be specific from November. Meanwhile, i applied for a university for master's program, and i have been accepted to a university with full tuition coverage and stipend from Spring 2011. I would like to go back to school, but it will require me to change my status to F1. I know we can file COS without leaving state, but it will generally take 3-6 months which is not an option for me, since i have to be on F1 to accept the financial aid offered by my university. Option two would be to leave the state, and file for F1 from my home country. Here is my question. How will my previous "being on bench w/o payroll" affect the outcome of my F1 stamping? FYI, I will have my recent 3 paystubs but YTD won't be much since i wasn't getting paid before november. Will this be an issue? Or, is it even necessary to show that i was maintaining H1-B status, since i am actually leaving US, and applying for a F1 visa from my home country?

Your help will be much appreciated!!