OPT, short for Optional Practical Training, is temporary work permission for F-1 students in a job "directly related to an F-1 student's major area of study," in the words of USCIS. You get up to 12 months at each education level, students with a qualifying STEM degree can add 24 more, and the clock that matters most once you graduate is the 90 day limit on unemployment. This guide adds the job search side: the filing window with real dates, when the unemployment counter starts, how to answer sponsorship questions, and which 2026 rules are final, proposed or blocked in court. It is general information, not legal advice; your school's designated school official (DSO) has the final word on your case.
OPT in one paragraph
OPT is an employment authorization, not a visa. Your DSO recommends you in SEVIS, you file Form I-765 with USCIS, and if it is approved you receive an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). The job must relate to your major, and you can use the time during your studies (pre-completion) or after (post-completion). Every rule below comes from the regulation at 8 CFR 214.2(f) or from USCIS, and the table puts the numbers in one place.
| Rule | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Time per education level | Up to 12 months | 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10) |
| Pre-completion hours while school is in session | 20 a week or less | 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(A) |
| Post-completion hours | At least 20 a week | USCIS OPT page |
| Earliest filing date, post-completion | 90 days before your program end date | 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(B) |
| Latest filing date, post-completion | 60 days after your program end date (30 under the blocked 2026 rule) | same |
| Deadline after the DSO recommendation | 30 days | same |
| Latest start date you can request | 60 days after your program end date (30 under the blocked 2026 rule) | 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(D) |
| Window to finish all OPT | 14 months after completing study | 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(A) |
| Unemployment allowed | 90 days; 150 with a STEM extension | 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(E) |
| Filing fee | $470 online, $520 on paper | USCIS G-1055, edition 10/16/26 |
| Premium processing | $1,780, action within 30 business days | G-1055 and USCIS premium processing |
Pre-completion and post-completion OPT
Both come out of the same 12 months. USCIS states it directly: "all periods of pre-completion OPT will be deducted from the available period of post-completion OPT."
| Pre-completion OPT | Post-completion OPT | |
|---|---|---|
| When | After one full academic year of full-time enrollment, before you finish | After you complete your program |
| Hours | 20 a week or less during the term; full time when school is out | At least 20 a week, part or full time |
| Effect on the other | Uses up post-completion time | Whatever is left after pre-completion |
| Typical use | A part-time role or summer job not built into your curriculum | Your first job after graduation |
USCIS gives two examples. One year of part-time pre-completion OPT reduces your remaining full-time post-completion OPT by six months. One year of full-time pre-completion OPT leaves no post-completion OPT at that education level. So before you take a summer role on pre-completion OPT, ask whether curricular practical training (CPT) would cover it instead. CPT has its own trap: the Federal Register notes that students "who have participated in one year or more of full-time CPT are ineligible for post-completion OPT" (91 FR 64566). Our guide to Day 1 CPT covers that rule in detail.
You become eligible for another 12 months when you move to a higher education level, for example from a bachelor's to a master's, under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10).
When and how to apply
The steps for post-completion OPT:
- Ask your DSO for an OPT recommendation. For the first 12 months you do not need a job offer first; the Federal Register notes a student "does not have to secure a training opportunity before the DSO can recommend OPT."
- Your DSO enters the recommendation in SEVIS and gives you a signed Form I-20.
- File Form I-765 within 30 days of that recommendation, inside the window of 90 days before to 60 days after your program end date.
- Pick a requested start date no later than 60 days after your program end date.
- Wait for approval. USCIS says "You may not begin your pre- or post-completion OPT until after we approve your Form I-765."
A worked example with invented dates
Say your program end date is 15 May 2027.
| Date | What it is |
|---|---|
| 14 February 2027 | Earliest day you can file (90 days before) |
| 1 March 2027 | DSO enters your recommendation; your 30 day filing deadline is 31 March |
| 14 June 2027 | Last day to file if the blocked 2026 rule ever takes effect (30 days after) |
| 14 July 2027 | Last day to file under the rule in force today (60 days after), and the latest start date you can request |
| 15 July 2028 | End of the 14 month window to finish all your OPT |
Two lines in the regulation decide how early you should file. Your "employment authorization will begin on the date requested or the date the employment authorization is adjudicated, whichever is later," and "a student must complete all practical training within a 14-month period following the completion of study." Read together, a late approval does not push the end of that window back. If you file in mid July and approval comes in the autumn, the 14 month limit can leave you with less than 12 months to use. Filing in February or March, as soon as your recommendation is in, protects the full year.
Why the eCFR says 30 days
If you check the current regulation on the eCFR today, it reads "no later than 30 days after his or her program end date," not 60. That text comes from the duration of status final rule (91 FR 44976, 17 July 2026), which instructed that in paragraph (f)(11)(i)(B)(2) the number "60" be replaced with "30", and made the same change to the latest start date you can request. The same rule would also shorten the time you have to prepare to leave the US after OPT ends "from 60 to 30 days." The eCFR version dated 1 September 2026 still says 60 throughout.
The rule was due to take effect on 15 September 2026. On 14 September, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts postponed its effective date and preliminarily enjoined DHS from implementing it, with nationwide relief, in Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. DHS, BAL reported. The court declined to vacate the rule for now, and BAL expected the government to appeal. USCIS's OPT page, last reviewed 25 November 2024, still gives the 60 day window.
The practical answer: file within 30 days of your program end date and you are inside both versions.
Unemployment days and reporting
Post-completion OPT is not just permission to work. The regulation says "during post-completion OPT, F-1 status is dependent upon employment," and you "may not accrue an aggregate of more than 90 days of unemployment" (8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(E)). The days are cumulative, not consecutive.
How the counter works, per DHS Study in the States' Unemployment Counter page (updated 27 July 2026): SEVIS looks back to the "Actual OPT Start Date" and will "count each day without employer information." Three consequences for your search:
- The clock starts on your EAD start date, not graduation. That is one reason your requested start date matters. A later date inside the allowed window gives you more search time before the counter runs, at the cost of not being able to work before it.
- A job you do not report does not stop the counter. SEVIS counts days without employer information, so report a new employer promptly. The regulation requires you to report changes of name, address or "interruption of such employment" to your DSO. Schools set the deadline at 10 days; Iowa State's international office, for example, says updates are due "within 10 days of any change" and that "students must update address and employment information in the SEVP Portal" (Iowa State ISSO).
- Not every job stops the clock. Post-completion work must be at least 20 hours a week and related to your major. What counts as employment, and a week by week search plan, are in our guide to OPT unemployment days.
Answering work authorization questions on applications
Almost every application asks whether you are authorized to work and whether you will need sponsorship. Purdue's business school career office gives the answer most schools give: on approved OPT "you would be legally authorized to work in the U.S., so the answer is 'Yes'," and "you would require sponsorship when your CPT/OPT/STEM OPT/AT period ends, so the answer is 'Yes'" (Purdue). Read each question word for word, because some ask only about sponsorship at the start date. Answering "no" to get past a filter tends to surface at offer time, when the employer has to sign STEM paperwork or file an H-1B.
The STEM extension
If your degree is on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List, you can add 24 months. USCIS lists three conditions on its OPT page: a degree on the list, a job with an employer enrolled in E-Verify, and an initial post-completion OPT grant based on that degree.
What changes for a job seeker:
- Your employer must use E-Verify. This is the biggest filter. Search employers on the E-Verify Employer Search before you invest in an application.
- A training plan (Form I-983) has to be signed by you and the employer.
- The window is different. You file within 60 days of the DSO recommendation and up to 90 days before your current OPT expires.
- A timely filing keeps you working. If your extension is pending when your OPT EAD expires, USCIS says "we will automatically extend your employment authorization for 180 days." A final rule ending automatic extensions for many renewal EADs took effect on 14 October 2026 (91 FR 65306); the law firm Mintz lists STEM OPT students as not affected, since they rely on "a separate 180-day automatic extension mechanism." Confirm with your DSO.
- The unemployment limit rises to 150 days in total, counting any days you used in the first year.
- Reporting tightens. Within 10 days you report changes of name, address, employer or "loss of employment," and you file a validation report every six months, under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(12)(ii).
The filing timeline, the I-983 in plain English, and how STEM OPT bridges to an H-1B are in our STEM OPT extension and OPT to H-1B guides.
OPT by the numbers
The best count comes from ICE's 2024 SEVIS by the Numbers report (5 June 2025): 194,554 pre- and post-completion OPT students "with both an employment authorization document (EAD) and who reported working for an employer in 2024," up 21.1% from 160,627 and the fourth year of growth in a row.
| Calendar year | OPT, working with an EAD | STEM OPT, new authorizations |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 115,651 | 61,543 |
| 2022 | 117,301 | 64,844 |
| 2023 | 160,627 | 62,036 |
| 2024 | 194,554 | 95,384 |
Source: ICE SEVP annual OPT, STEM OPT and CPT table. By our arithmetic, OPT grew about 68% from 2021 to 2024.
Other figures from the same report:
- 381,140 unique students had some form of practical training authorization in 2024, including 130,586 on CPT.
- 165,524 students were participating in STEM OPT in 2024. That is larger than the 95,384 new authorizations because the extension lasts two years.
- The largest STEM OPT employers in 2024 were Amazon (6,679), Google (1,778), Microsoft (1,496) and Meta (1,302).
DHS gives a sense of scale in its October 2026 fee proposal: "only about 20 percent of F-1 nonimmigrants participated in OPT in 2024 out of the 1.4 million F-1 nonimmigrants in the higher education system" (91 FR 64566).
Why you will see 294,253 elsewhere. IIE's Open Doors 2025 reported OPT participation at 294,253, up 21%. That is a census of institutions, while SEVIS counts students who held an EAD and reported an employer. Both are real; they measure different things. Name the source when you quote either.
2026 rules: the OPT fee and other changes
Status as of 18 October 2026:
| Rule | Status | What it would do |
|---|---|---|
| Optional Practical Training Fees (91 FR 64566) | Proposed 8 October 2026; comments close 9 November 2026 | $70,000 for a student's first OPT and $30,000 for each later one, paid by the school before the DSO recommendation |
| Fixed period of admission (91 FR 44976) | Final but blocked nationwide on 14 September 2026; litigation continues | Cut the departure period after OPT "from 60 to 30 days," and the post-completion filing deadline and latest start date from 60 to 30 days |
| Removal of automatic EAD extensions (91 FR 65306) | Final, effective 14 October 2026 | Ends automatic extensions for certain renewal EADs; STEM OPT's separate 180 day extension is read as unaffected |
The proposed OPT fee, in detail
The proposal's text sets "a one-time initial fee of $70,000 for each F-1 student the first time that the alien is recommended to participate in OPT," and $30,000 "prior to a subsequent recommendation." Its economic analysis adds that a subsequent OPT incurs $30,000 "regardless of whether it is pre-completion OPT, post-completion OPT, or a STEM OPT extension." Three details matter for students:
- The school pays, but the cost may reach you. "DHS acknowledges that the schools may pass the financial obligation of this proposed fee onto F-1 nonimmigrant students, all students, or employers."
- No fee, no recommendation. "No DSO would be able to enter an OPT recommendation without the school having paid the applicable fee."
- Refunds are limited. A school may request one case by case, but the fee "will not be refunded under any circumstances once the F-1 student has been granted the employment authorization document."
A worked example, if the proposal were finalized as written: a student who used pre-completion OPT, then post-completion OPT, then a STEM extension would cost the school $70,000 + $30,000 + $30,000 = $130,000 (our arithmetic). DHS also asked for comment on charging the $70,000 again at each new degree level. None of this is in effect, and a final rule could differ or be challenged in court.
Where ApplyEze fits
OPT turns a job search into a race against a counter, so volume and fit both matter. ApplyEze watches the career boards of more than 100,000 employers directly and writes a resume for every posting, and a cover letter when the form asks, so you can apply early to roles that match your major. It takes hard facts from your profile and reuses the work authorization answers you save once. When a required question is not covered by them, it still fills it rather than stopping the run, so that answer may not come from you. Fill in your saved answers, use dry run first, and read your receipts. Check those saved answers whenever your status changes, for example when you move to a STEM extension. For a wider view of where international students find work, see our guide to job opportunities for international students.