Post completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) allows you to accept employment directly related to your academic major. While practical training restricts the kind of work you do, it does not restrict you to a particular job or location - you can go anywhere in the country. Understanding OPT can be important as you make plans for the end of your studies. It may take 3 to 6 months to get an approval from the U.S.C.I.S. Service Center.
Plan ahead!
Optional Practical Training (OPT) allows you to seek full-time employment appropriate to your academic major at the Associate degree level for up to twelve (12) months. The regulations allow only twelve (12) months total of full-time OPT which may be completed within a 14-month period following completion of studies. If you have participated in Curricular Practical Training please see an international Student Advisor before applying for OPT.
You must have the Employment Authorization Document/Card (EAD) to begin OPT and the start date must be valid in order for you to begin working. DO NOT BEGIN WORKING UNTIL YOU RECEIVE YOUR EAD CARD FROM U.S.C.I.S.
Optional Practical Training is automatically terminated when you transfer to another school and when you begin another education level (example: associate to bachelor level.)
Do I need to have a job offer before I apply for O.P.T.?
No offer of employment is required, but you are expected to work or be actively seeking employment after the Optional Practical Training Employment Authorization Document (EAD) card is issued.
Can I work while I am waiting for my optional practical training to be authorized?
No, you cannot legally begin work until you have the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) card.
Can I cancel my OPT?
Once the EAD is issued for OPT, it can only be canceled by returning it BEFORE employment begins. You can request the application be withdrawn before the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) card is issued. Both of these processes are not always successful.
Can I re-enter the U.S. if I leave while on OPT?
If your OPT has been approved and you leave the U.S. before you get a job, your OPT ends and you cannot reenter. If you have a job, you may travel and reenter to resume work at the same job.
If requesting post-completion Optional Practical Training, you may apply within a period of one hundred and twenty (120) days before and submitted prior to the last day of class during your final quarter. Apply early. Many students receive post-completion OPT before they have job offers. As long as immigration has received your application prior to the completion of your program your F-1 visa status will be maintained until your case is adjudicated.
1. Pick-up materials in the IP office or attend a practical training OPT workshop. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (U.S.C.I.S.) Form I-765; Application for Employment Authorization, will be provided along with this handout.
2. Complete the U.S.C.I.S. Form I-765; Application for Employment Authorization, #1-16 and sign. Please use black ink or a typewriter to complete all documents.
For question 3, use an address that will be valid for at least three to four months after completing your degree.
You can use the International Student Programs’ address for the address in the United States. The reason for this is that your E.A.D. card cannot be forwarded to a new address (returned undeliverable mail is destroyed after 180 days.) See the example below for the format that must be used if you are using ISP or someone else's address
[ Your Name]
c/o International Student Programs Office or name of person
9600 College Way North or Full address of this person
Seattle, WA 98103
For question 16 fill in (c) (3) (i).
3. Meet with an ISP advisor to review your application materials. Please bring the following items:
[]
Completed Form I-765. Write “ Optional Practical Training” across the top of application
[] 2 small photos of yourself prepared according to U.S.C.I.S. specifications (there has been a change in the photo requirements do not take a photo as described on page 5 of the I-765 booklet). A page with specifications is included on the back of the I-765 application. Please lightly print your name in pencil on the back of both photos.
Photocopies of your passport (valid for a minimum of 6 more months)
○ the identity page, including any extension of your passport expiration date
○ your F-1 visa stamp
Photocopies of Form I-94, arrival/departure record (the little white card they typically attach to your passport)
A check or money order made out to Department of Homeland Security for the application fee of $180.
Do not send cash!!
Photocopy of any previously issued Employment Authorization Document (EAD), if you have received work authorization from the U.S.C.I.S. on another occasion
Post-Completion Optional Practical Training Request Form
An ISP advisor will review your OPT application materials, enrollment and status. If you are eligible an ISP advisor will recommend OPT via SEVIS and issue another Form I-20 noting OPT. This process will be completed as quickly as possible but, please allow three to five working days for the processing of your OPT application paperwork.
4. Come into the ISP office to sign your new I-20. You will keep the original I-20 and a photocopy of it will be included in your application materials to the U.S.C.I.S.
5. The ISP Office will photocopy all the documents to be sent to the U.S.C.I.S. Service Center for your office
file. ISP will send all documents to the U.S.C.I.S. Service Center in Lincoln, NE.
ISP NSCC October 2005 I:\Staff\Christine\PT\F1OPTHandout.doc
You will need to keep in touch with the ISP office after the application is sent to the U.S.C.I.S.
1. When you receive Form I-797; receipt notice, from the U.S.C.I.S. Service Center bring it to the ISP office to be copied.
2. When you receive your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) please bring it to ISP to be photocopied.USCIS REQUIRES that a copy of this document be kept in your file.
3. You must inform the ISP office anytime you have an address change or if you change your immigration status so an
update can be noted in SEVIS.
4. After you receive your EAD card, if you travel outside the U.S. get a signature on your I-20. The signature on your I-20 will be more than six month old when you return to the U.S. please make sure have an ISP advisor sign your I-20
When your application is complete and filed at an U.S.C.I.S. Service Center, you will be mailed a form I-797 receipt notice. The LIN number is the receipt number on the I-797. It is important for you to have this number in case the U.S.C.I.S. has to trace your file. Keep this in your personal file. The ISP office will need to copy I-797, please bring it into our office to photocopy for your office file. Expect to wait from three weeks to six weeks before receiving a response from the U.S.C.I.S. If you do not receive a notice of receipt within six weeks contact the advisor in the ISP office.
The Employment Authorization Document (EAD card) is a small laminated card, like a driver’s license. You may not start work until you receive it, and you must stop working by the expiration date indicated. Please remember to bring it or a photocopy of it into the ISP office. If your EAD card has incorrect dates contact the International Student Programs Office. If you have not received an EAD card with permission 90 days past the receipt date on your I-797 please contact the ISP office to advise you on applying for an interim EAD card. You are allowed to remain sixty more days in the U.S. in F-1 / M-1 status after the expiration date on your EAD.
While Your Application is Pending
If you finish your studies, apply for OPT, and leave before receiving authorization, you will not be re-admitted in F-1 status. AFTER YOU GRADUATE DO NOT LEAVE the US (even to go to Canada) while YOU ARE WAITING for OPT AUTHORIZATION.
After You have Received OPT. Approval
You are still considered in F-1 status. Departure and re-entry to the U.S. should not be a problem if you have been authorized under OPT and have a job. When you travel you will need to show the border officer your:
- Employment Authorization Document (EAD card)
- I-20 recently endorsed for travel by International Student Programs Office (ISP)
- Up-to-date F-1 visa
- Valid passport
- A letter from your employer verifying your employment
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