To be eligible for OPT, international students must meet certain requirements:

• You must have been in F-1 status for a minimum of 1 academic year.
  • If you want to do a study abroad program outside of the U.S. (for less than 5 months), you are allowed to count the time spent abroad toward the academic year requirement. (Consult with an ISC advisor before studying abroad outside the U.S.)
• You become eligible for an additional 12 months of practical training when you change to a new degree program at a higher educational level.
• Students only become eligible for Post-completion OPT once they have finished all substantive coursework, which does not include thesis or comprehensive exams. Students are not allowed to take courses while on Post-OPT, except if they only have the thesis or comprehensive exams to complete and are required by their academic department to enroll in 799-A, 799-B, or 799-C .

Students may work on Post-completion OPT after they have finished all regular coursework for their degree. Students can finish their thesis or comprehensive exams while on OPT. For assistance in determining when to apply for Post-completion OPT, please consult an ISC advisor. 

Currently, graduate students on Post-completion OPT can be registered in 799B or 799C at Global Campus but do not have to be registered in any courses (either at SDSU or Global Campus) for immigration purposes. A student in this situation must register in 799B or 799C for academic purposes so that, by SDSU policies, they can graduate at the end of the semester. 

Students on Post-completion OPT are not allowed to take courses at SDSU or Global Campus other than 799A, 799B, or 799C.

Courses Replacing Comprehensive Exams

Graduate students that wish to take courses instead of comprehensive exams (ex. Computer Science) cannot be on Post-completion OPT since they are not allowed to take substantive courses during Post-completion OPT.

In addition, taking the comprehensive exam replacement course through Global Campus alone does not maintain their F-1 status and academic program. They would have to either take the course through SDSU or take the course through Global Campus and be registered in 799C at the same time.

Students in this position can maintain their program (on I-20) and are eligible to apply for Pre-completion OPT if they wish. 

USCIS is currently processing 80% of OPT applications in 4 weeks; however, the actual processing time is at the discretion of USCIS and may be longer. Having a job offer is not required when applying for OPT; most students apply for OPT before applying for and/or procuring a job. 

When to File your Application with USCIS

• No more than 90 days before the date of completion of your program (for program term end dates, refer to our OPT How To Apply webpage and read the OPT FAQ's in Step 1)
• -OR- No more than 60 days after the completion of your program 
• -AND- Within 30 days from the date your OPT I-20 was created by the ISC
• -AND- After attending an ISC OPT Application Review Session and receiving the OPT I-20 from the ISC

Review this webpage to learn how to apply.

Employment must be in a job or internship that is directly related to your major field of study on page 1 of your I-20.  If the relationship between a job and your field of study is later questioned by USCIS or another U.S. agency, the burden of proof will be on you to explain the relationship.

Types of employment allowed during Post-completion OPT include:

• Paid employment: You may work part-time or full-time.
• Multiple employers: You may work for more than one employer at a time and also change employers during OPT.
  • Short-term, multiple employers: Students in a performing arts major and certain other majors may work for multiple short-term employers. Keep a list of all employment with the dates, employer name, address, the job you did, how it related to your field of study, and hours or average number of hours doing the job. This list is important in case you need to provide documentation of your OPT employment or to prove eligibility for future U.S. immigration benefits. Employment must average a minimum of 20 hours per week over the period of one month in order to not count towards your unemployment.
• Contract employment (1099 employment): This is where you perform a service based on a contractual relationship. Keep records showing the duration of the contract periods and the name and address of the contracting company.
• Self-employment: You may start a business and be self-employed if you obtain and keep records of all required business licenses for San Diego/California/U.S. Your business must be directly related to your field of study.
• Employment through an agency: You may work for an employment agency.
• Paid internship: You may do a part-time or full-time internship.
• Unpaid employment/internships/volunteer work:  You may work as a volunteer or unpaid intern as long as it does not violate U.S. labor laws. At the end of your unpaid internship or volunteer work, ask the company for a letter that includes your name, the dates of your work, the job you did, and hours or average number of hours per week. This letter is important in case you need to provide documentation of your OPT employment or to prove eligibility for future U.S. immigration benefits. Normally, work must average a minimum of 20 hours per week over the period of one month in order to not count towards your unemployment.*During the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Department of Homeland Security is allowing less than 20 hours per week to stop the unemployment clock. We will notify students when the 20 hour per week minimum goes back into effect.
  • See below to learn about unpaid employment/internships/volunteer work on Post-OPT.
• These do not apply to the OPT STEM 24-Month Extension.

For students with authorized Pre-completion OPT, you are limited to a maximum of 20 hours per week of OPT employment when school is in session. You may work more than 20 hours per week during official school breaks and over the Summer.  

For students with authorized Post-completion OPT, it is the OPT employment that maintains your legal F-1 immigration status. It is important for you to remember the following: 

• Students cannot have more than 90 days of unemployment beginning on the OPT start date on your Employment Authorization Document (EAD). The unemployment count is cumulative.
• If a student works less than 20 hours per week, it will count as unemployment. *During the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Department of Homeland Security is allowing less than 20 hours per week to stop the unemployment clock. We will notify students/alumni on OPT when this stops and the minimum 20 hours per week is in effect again.
• For students who work/intern/volunteer in multiple jobs and the total hours between all jobs are 20 or more per week, this will meet the minimum hour requirement and not count as unemployment. 
• Students who exceed 90 days of unemployment will be in violation of their F-1 immigration status and must depart the U.S. immediately to avoid accruing unlawful presence, which could negatively affect any future U.S. visa or other other U.S. benefit application. There is no 60-day grace period. 
• Approved vacation and time off by your employer does not count as "unemployment" if you are still considered an employee of the company. 
• There is no limit to the number of hours a student may work per week.

Students are required to report all changes in employment and personal information within 10 days of the change in order to maintain their F1 immigration record in SEVIS.

Creating your SEVP Portal Account

After your OPT is approved and the OPT begins according to the start date on your EAD card, you will receive an email from do-not-reply.SEVP@ice.dhs.gov asking you to create your SEVP Portal Account. If you receive the EAD card before your OPT begins, the email will be sent after the start date on the EAD card.

Reporting Information to your SEVP Portal

The ISC advises all OPT students to plan carefully before leaving the U.S., especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn about travel and re-entry procedures and the documents you will need for travel during OPT. 

Pending OPT Application

If you depart the U.S. while your OPT application is pending, you will need to confirm there is someone at the U.S. mailing address you entered in Form I-765 who will be available and willing to receive your mail from USCIS and mail it to you wherever you are in the world. If your OPT is approved while you are outside the U.S., you will be required to have the original EAD card at the time of re-entry. A scan or photo of the EAD card will not be acceptable. Please refer to the link above for a complete list of documents required when re-entering the U.S. 

While health insurance is not required for students on Post-Completion OPT, the ISC highly recommends that students have health insurance coverage due to the high costs of medical care in the U.S. 

Students who have the JCB insurance plan can buy the OPT insurance package via the JCB website if they do so before their current insurance ends.