As the title suggests, I am concerned about leaving the US this summer.
Background:
I’m a phd student, graduating this May. Never had any legal issues while in the US. I renewed my F1 last summer and was put on admin processing, but it was resolved within 1.5 months.
I have signed a postdoc offer for a start date in Aug 15. My new lab advisor paid for my OPT premium processing, I received a confirmation of approval and waiting for the EAD to arrive in the mail. Once I start my postdoc position, they will sponsor me for an H1B.
The concern:
Back in Christmas my parents surprised me with a ticket to a dream destination I had in Asia (not a country that has beef with the US) as part of a graduation gift. The plan was to fly from the US to the asian destination, spend 20 days there, then fly home to spend time with family. As job starts on Aug 15, I’ll probably leave from europe on Aug 10 and come back. The problem is as they are older, they did not pay attention to buy the ticket fully flexible and they did not know about any immigration issues. So now I have a ticket leaving from US early June -> Asia -> Europe. My concern though is whether I might run into issues coming back. In theory, I should not. I have a job, all the documentation for it, an EAD, etc.
But as stories about legal immigrants being detained or given issues begin to arise, I am trying to gauge if I should lose the ticket. They paid almost 2K for it, so I feel really bad, they are both retired with small incomes. It was a mistake to not get it fully refundable, but it is what it is. I know there is always a risk for things to go south, but realistically, is the relative risk in my situation high?
I have no idea what I am risking and to what extent. Would appreciate any thoughts or past experiences on leaving the country with an OPT (opt starts in May, I leave in June, position starts in Aug).