If You Had Previous Opt and You Want to Apply Again Is It Considered Renewal or Initial Request

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3. F-one OPT (Optional Practical Preparation) Later Your Degree Program

F-i OPT (Optional Practical Preparation) Later on Your Degree Program

An ISSO advisor discusses OPT eligibility requirements and the application procedures.

OPT (Optional Practical Training) is a benefit and extension of F-1 student status that permits you to remain in the U.Southward. subsequently you complete your academic program with permission to work in your discipline.

Post-Completion OPT extends your F-1 status although yous are no longer an enrolled student, and also extends the F-2 condition of any dependents who are with you.

Learn more than!Watch our curt video, "What is OPT?"

F-1 regulations require y'all to be in the U.South. in F-1 condition at the time you apply for OPT.  Your  near contempo I-94 inflow record is amid the required documentation.

Employment on Post-completion OPT is paid or unpaid work in your field of study for at least 20 hours per week.

Learn about types of employment allowed:

A job offer is not required in advance of submitting an application which allows yous more than time to chore chase. However, you need to begin OPT employment within 90 days of the outset date on your EAD.

The "clock" to count unemployment days begins on the offset engagement of OPT on your EAD card

Exist conscientious! If y'all accrue more than xc days of unemployment, or if you forget to report and update your OPT to the ISSO, your F-1 SEVIS record may automatically cease. A terminated SEVIS record cancels OPT authorization and requires you to go out the U.s..

Your maximum amount of Postal service-Completion OPT is 12 months. If you had OPT previously authorized at the same degree level it will exist deducted from the 12 month total. This includes:

Use your previously-issued EAD cards to summate the number of days to exist deducted.

The earliest you can apply is 90 days earlier your programme end date on your I-20. For more detail on the application timeline, get to Awarding Process Step i.

Nosotros  recommend that you maintain bear witness — for each job — of the position held, the job title, contact information for the your supervisor or manager, a description of the work, and proof of the elapsing.

If possible, obtain a signed letter of the alphabet from your hiring official, supervisor, or manager stating how your caste is related to the piece of work performed.

These records and messages are not function of your applications. It is useful to have them available in your personal files in instance questions ever arise during OPT or in a futurity employment-based application.

Determine Your OPT Timeline

Plan Ahead

Your OPT approval may take more 3 months to be processed by USCIS, then you demand to plan ahead. Hopefully, you will receive an approval earlier than this.

Apply as early as possible

The earliest you can submit your application to the ISSO for your OPT I-20 is ninety days before your program end appointment.

Use our OPT Calculator to determine:

• When to employ;
• How much OPT time you have left if you have used OPT at this educational level:
  • You will need to have your EAD Card(s) available to add together all the days to be deducted from the 365-solar day total;

• OPT start and finish dates

As a doctoral educatee, you have some flexibility in determining your programme end date for OPT purposes. You may utilize the defence date or the cease of the term in which you consummate requirements.

Notation that after your program end date, you are no longer eligible to engage in on-campus employment every bit a student or receive funding from your department.  OPT employment can begin only later on you lot have received your EAD carte, and are within the dates printed on your EAD carte.

Consult with both an ISSO adviser and your academic adviser before finalizing your "custom end date" in the "OPT Computer".

Choose Your OPT Start Appointment

Choose your OPT dates wisely

You become to cull the date you would like OPT authorization to brainstorm, within the 60-day menstruation following your program end engagement. This is not an piece of cake conclusion if you don't take a job offer at the time of application.

The latest date is non always all-time

Yous may want to maximize the time you'll have for job-hunting past choosing the latest possible date. The downside, even so, is that you lot cannot begin employment until the first date on your EAD.

OPT dates cannot be changed

Once you cull your OPT start date and submit your application to us, you cannot modify it.

Gather Documents and Information for ISSO Application

These are the documents you will upload when you log in to Compass to submit your application for the Post-Completion OPT I-20.

Download a PDF version of the list here.

Apply Compass to Submit Your ISSO Application

The primeval y'all tin submit your awarding to the ISSO for your OPT I-20 is 90 days before your program stop engagement.

Click the appropriate link beneath to log in to Compass:

Submit your OPT I-765 awarding online through your USCIS account.

After you accept your OPT I-twenty, the online application is easy to employ. Lookout this short video on the many advantages of filing online as compared to mailing a newspaper application. ISSO highly recommends that yous file online, simply if you adopt to send a paper application, here is the checklist of documents and USCIS mailing address.

The ISSO provides the following tips regarding the OPT awarding, nonetheless, please keep in heed that you are responsible for the accuracy of your application to USCIS and post-obit their pace-by-pace instructions.

1. Follow instructions for creating a USCIS Online Business relationship or log in to your USCIS business relationship if you already accept one.
   
2. Select "File a Form Online" and choose "Awarding for Employment Authorization (I-765)".
   
3. Follow the instructions and complete each step in the order they are presented to you.

You will find that the online application is user-friendly, but come dorsum to check if you're not sure almost any of these questions.

"What is your eligibility category?"

• Choose Merely "(c)(three)(B) Student Post-Completion OPT".

"What is your reason for applying?"

• Choose the option "Initial permission for employment".

"U.S. Mailing Address"

• Exist sure your U.South. mailing address on the I-765 will be valid for at least four - five months. If you do non have an address that will be valid for four - five months, yous can enter the name and U.S. address of a friend or family member under "In Care Of Name (if whatever)."

"Previously Authorized CPT or OPT"

• For CPT: Upload re-create of your CPT I-20(s).
• For OPT: Upload re-create of your EAD card(s).
• If y'all are missing I-20(s) or EAD bill of fare(south), upload a letter (template hither).

"I-94 Inflow and Divergence Record"

• Copy of your most recent I-94 inflow record (not your travel history). Make sure the record indicates "Class of Admission: F1" and "Acknowledge Until Date: D/S," which stands for duration of status.

"Status at last arrival"

• Curl downwardly to "F1 - F1 - Student, Academic Or Language Programme."

"What is your A-Number?"

• This number is listed on your most recent EAD card, under "USCIS #." If you practice non have one or lost information technology then click the box "I exercise not take or know my A-Number".

"What is your USCIS Account Number?"

• If this is your start online awarding to USCIS, you will non accept a USCIS Account Number yet. Click the box "I do not have or know my USCIS Online Account Number".

"Application Fee"

• Pay the required application fee. Remember that one time y'all pay the fee, in that location can be no changes to your application equally it will be considered submitted.

"Review and Submit"

• Check that that you are inside the 30-day window after the date your Mail-Completion OPT I-20 was issued. Do not submit if information technology is outside this timeframe, and contact the ISSO for aid.
  
• Verify that all information is correct and digitally sign and submit your application.

Follow USCIS guidelines for tracking EAD menu delivery. Monitor your application status via your USCIS account and sign up for USPS informed delivery to track the delivery of your documents.

Normally, you will receive 2 updates from USCIS before the EAD.Yous do non need to contact u.s. when you receive these two updates. If you receive other communication that requires follow up, contact the ISSO for aid.

1.   I-797 Receipt Observe with a case number. You volition receive a case number immediately afterwards submitting the online awarding.Check for accurateness in case there's an mistake in your proper noun or other information that needs to be corrected.

2.   I-797 Approval Notice

*USCIS is extending flexibilities to OPT applicants whose applications were received betwixt October 1, 2020, through Oct 31, 2021, and experienced excessive delays in in processing. Encounter our OPT FAQs.

USCIS Processing Fourth dimension and EAD Commitment FAQs

The USCIS processing time of OPT applications can vary. Cheque USCIS Case Processing Times to find out how long I-765 applications are currently taking.

If your instance has been pending exterior USCIS's listed case processing fourth dimension for I-765 applications, submit an inquiry to USCIS via your online account.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to know exactly when your OPT application will be approved, and y'all demand the EAD in hand to brainstorm employment. You may demand to be flexible in regard to your OPT start date.

Whatever activity that could be considered OPT employment cannot brainstorm until you have your EAD bill of fare and are within the approved dates on the EAD card. You cannot piece of work, paid or unpaid, for an employer until your EAD card arrives. Still job-hunting? Review the types of employment that are allowed for OPT.

The sixty-day grace catamenia no longer applies one time you accept applied for OPT before the deadline. You lot are able to stay in the US for as long every bit it takes USCIS to adjudicate your asking.

Mostly, USCIS will conform the kickoff date on your EAD card to the date that USCIS approved your OPT.

Regardless of when you are approved, F-1 regulations limit the extension of your OPT finish date to 14 months after your program stop engagement.

Try one of these ii methods:

1. Utilise USPS' Missing Mail and Lost Parcel Form to locate your envelope.
   
2. Visit your local US Post Office and ask them for detailed scanning information about where and when your package was scanned.

If USPS lost the EAD, attach a alphabetic character from the US Post on official letterhead, stating that the USPS is responsible for the lost EAD, including the contact person from the US Post Office to ship an electronic mail to the ISSO.

• Morningside: [electronic mail protected]
• CUIMC: [e-mail protected]

You should take already fabricated a re-create of your application materials before submitting your application to USCIS. Now add a copy of the EAD. You may need them for future clearing or visa applications.

If you do not already take an SSN, and didn't apply for one when you completed the I-765 OPT application, y'all are now eligible to apply on or after the offset date on your EAD card.

Do not use once again if y'all have already washed so.

In full general, post-completion OPT cannot be extended, except in the following two situations:

1. STEM OPT Extension: If you graduated from a degree program in a government-designated Stem field, you lot may be eligible for an extension for an additional 24 months of OPT. Read more about the Stalk OPT extension.
   
2. Cap-Gap Extension: If your employer files a alter of status H-1B petition while y'all are on authorized OPT and information technology is selected by USCIS for processing, your OPT may be automatically extended during the period of fourth dimension between the expiration of your OPT and the October 1st change of status to H-1B. Read more than about the "Cap Gap" extension.

Acquire more! Watch our Extending Your OPT video for more data.

While you are on OPT, you remain in F-one status. If you have plans to travel abroad during this catamenia, you need to know in advance which F-ane documents you need to have with y'all to render to the U.S. so you won't jeopardize your OPT authorization.

Do not come up dorsum to the U.S. in whatsoever condition other than F-1!  Visit our Travel During F-1 OPT page for complete information. Our Travel Abroad on OPT video gives a corking overview.

During OPT, you are not permitted to study toward a degree program. Study is limited to part-fourth dimension non-caste classes.

If you decide to begin a new full-time program at:

When your EAD expires, y'all have a 60 day grace period in which:

Yous cannot work during the grace period, or go out and return to the U.Southward. in F-i status. On the 61st solar day after the EAD expires, SEVIS automatically completes your F-ane SEVIS tape.

If you make up one's mind to discontinue your OPT earlier the EAD expires, you lot do non accept a grace menstruum and must study your departure throughOPT Reporting. This will complete your F-1 SEVIS record.

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Source: https://isso.columbia.edu/content/f-1-opt-optional-practical-training-after-your-degree-program

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