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Optional Practical Training (OPT) and unemployment

Warning: Exceeding the OPT unemployment limit may lead to the termination of your SEVIS record.

F-1 students on post-completion OPT or the STEM OPT extension must closely track their days of unemployment to maintain their F-1 status.

  • Post-Completion OPT: Maximum of 90 days of unemployment allowed (including any cap-gap period).
  • STEM OPT Extension: Maximum of 150 days allowed, inclusive of any unemployment accrued during post-completion OPT and the cap-gap period.

If you exceed these limits or fail to report your employment in the SEVP portal and to ISSS, your SEVIS record may be automatically terminated. SEVP may send you an email warning that your record is at risk of termination. This notice may include language such as:

“Failure to take corrective action may result in the initiation of immigration proceedings to remove you from the United States… If your SEVIS record is not updated within 15 days of the date of this notice, SEVP will set your SEVIS record to ‘terminated’…”

If you believe you are close to exceeding the allowed number of days of unemployment and are unlikely to secure employment in time, ISSS recommends that you take proactive steps to avoid falling out of F-1 status. These may include:

  • Departing the U.S. and asking ISSS to close your SEVIS record
  • Transferring your SEVIS record to another school
  • Initiating a new degree program
  • Applying for a change of immigration status

To Maintain Your F-1 Status While on OPT

  • Report your employment promptly following ISSS’s OPT reporting instructions
  • Keep track of your unemployment days and act before reaching the limit
  • Check the email associated with your SEVP Portal regularly—important notices from SEVP and ISSS will be sent there

If you have questions, please contact ISSS.