Purpose:
This handout is designed for students in F-1 status. It provides information on a type of employment that is available after you complete your studies and are currently on approved Post Completion OPT period.
Definition of Optional Practical Training Extension
Optional practical training extension is designed to provide you with an opportunity to extend actual employment experience in your chosen profession for a maximum period of 17 months. Its purpose is to complement your academic work.
Eligibility Requirements: Your degree must be one of approved STEM majors. The work must be directly related to your major field of study and it must be appropriate for someone with your level of education. You need to have a specific job offer to apply for optional practical training extension. The company must also participate in E-Verify. The work must be full-time and may occur anywhere in the United States. To be eligible to apply for optional practical training extension, you must be currently on approved post completion OPT period, and you must submit your application so that it reaches the Vermont office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) prior to the completion of your current Post Completion OPT.
Application Deadline:
You must apply to your international student adviser no more
than 90 days before you complete your current Post Completion
OPT.
If your international student adviser recommends that you be allowed to participate in practical training, you must then submit an application for an “Employment Authorization Document” (EAD) to the USCIS
Eastern Service Center (which has jurisdiction over our area). USCIS
must receive the application no more than 90 days before
completion of your Post Completion OPT.
Making a decision regarding participation in optional practical training:
You are allowed one 17-month optional practical training
extension for your stay in the US. The extension must be taken
all at once and cannot be broken up.
After acquiring Optional Practical Training Extension:
The Student Must report to his or her DSO (within 10 days) any change in:
Legal name;
Residential or Mailing Address;
Email Address;
Employer name;
Employer address;
The student
must also report to his/her DSO every six months, confirming the information listed above; even if there have been no changes
The requirement to report continues if the student's 17-month STEM extension is extended further by the automatic cap-gap extension.
Authorization may not be rescinded or deferred:
Once authorization to engage in optional practical training
extension is granted, and the EAD is issued, and the start date passes, it may not be rescinded, canceled, or deferred. This means that after optional practical training
extension is authorized by USCIS, unexpected delays, inability to find an appropriate job, or loss of a job may reduce the time you have available for work.
Change of employer after post completion practical training
extension has been authorized:
You may change employers after you have begun authorized
employment provided the new job is (1) directly related to your
major field of study and (2) The company must also participate
in E-Verify.
Travel Outside the United States:
Reentry provisions of the regulations require students in optional practical training
extension to present (1) Form I-20, endorsed for travel by the international student adviser “within the last six months,” , (2) the “Employment Authorization Document” (EAD)
and (3) "Employment Letter", as well as the usual passport and
visa requirements. Students who do not meet these requirements
may not be allowed to reenter the United States.
To obtain a travel signature while on OPT you need:
- A ISSS Request form
- A valid OPT I-20
- A copy of an unexpired EAD card
- A employment letter stating E-Verify verification number
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