Optional Practical Training (OPT)

While you are in your degree program or nearing the end of your degree program at SDSU, there are 2 OPT options for you to consider:

Pre-completion OPT

• Performed during the annual summer vacation and at other times when school is not in session

• Performed while school is in session, provided that the training does not exceed 20 hours per week

Note: You may wish to wait until you have a job offer before applying for pre-completion OPT because your limited amount of OPT will begin to be counted from the start date specified on your Employment Authorization Document (EAD), whether you have a job or not

If you are interested in Pre-completion OPT, please meet with an ISC advisor before attending an OPT Application Review Session

Post-completion OPT

• Performed after completing your program of study or performed after completing all coursework with only thesis, comprehensive exams, or equivalent remaining (for certain graduate students only)

• You must complete practical training within a 14-month period following the completion of your program of study.

Your approval for OPT comes from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the form of an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). You must have the EAD before you can begin working on OPT, and you can only work within the dates specified on the EAD.

12-Month Training Period

OPT is limited to a 12-month training period for each degree level. You become eligible for another 12-month period when you begin a new degree program at a higher educational level.

Your 12 months of OPT can use a combination of the Pre-completion and Post-completion options. Each period of authorized Pre-completion OPT will be deducted from the total 12 months of your authorization. Part-time Pre-completion OPT counts as half the rate of full-time Pre-completion OPT.

Examples:

• If you use 3 months of full-time Pre-completion OPT (at separate times or all at once), you will have 9 months left of Post-completion OPT.

• If you use 4 part-time months of Pre-completion OPT (at separate times or all at once), you will have 10 months left of Post-completion OPT. Part-time Pre-completion OPT counts as half the rate of full-time OPT.

• 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 must have completed all substantive coursework, which does not include thesis, comprehensive exams, or project. Students are not allowed to take courses while on Post-OPT, unless they only have the thesis dissertation or comprehensive exams to complete and are required by their academic department to enroll in 799-A, 799-B, or 799-C.

During Your Academic Program and Pre-Completion OPT

F-1 students are required to be registered in courses at SDSU during their program of study (within program dates on the I-20). Courses through the SDSU Global Campus do not qualify as courses at SDSU (except for select courses in the graduate Computer Science programs), so F-1 students cannot maintain their immigration status by taking courses through Global Campus alone.

The only exception is for graduate students who have comprehensive exams, thesis, or final project remaining. These students might be able to maintain their F-1 status and program by registering in 799B (thesis extension), 799C (comprehensive exams), or another class determined by your academic department. Please consult an ISC advisor to determine if this is an option for you.

Students registered in 799C through Global Campus might also be able to take other courses through Global Campus (ex. replacement courses for comp exams) at the same time. This maintains their F-1 status and academic program. It is not possible to do this while on Post-completion OPT, only during Pre-completion OPT. Please consult an ISC advisor to determine if this is an option for you.

During their program, while registered in coursework at SDSU, students can apply for Pre-completion OPT. They can choose when this Pre-completion OPT starts and ends (at the time of application) but it must total less than 12 full-time months and it cannot extend beyond their program completion date. It can be full-time during vacation periods but it cannot exceed part-time (20 hours/week) during the academic year.

If a student has completed all coursework except for thesis or comprehensive exams and does not plan to replace comprehensive exams with a course, it is recommended to apply for Post-completion OPT.

During Post-Completion OPT

Students may work on Post-completion OPT after they have finished all regular coursework for their degree. Students can finish their thesis, final project, or comprehensive exams while working on Post-completion 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, 799C or a Project Extension course determined by your Academic Department, but do not have to enroll in courses (either at SDSU or Global Campus) for immigration purposes. A student in this situation must register in 799B, 799C, or a Project Extension course determined by the Academic Department 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 799B, or 799C, or a Project Extension course determined by your Academic Department.

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.

Having a job offer is not required when applying for OPT; most students apply for OPT before applying for and/or procuring a job.

OPT Application Filing Period

It is recommended to begin the OPT application process a minimum of 3 weeks before the last date of the filing period so there is sufficient time to file by the deadline. 

USCIS adjudicates OPT applications, and processing times for 80% of applications over the past year has been 3 to 4 months. For the current processing time of Form I-765 for F-1 students, visit the USCIS Case Processing Times webpage. 

Following the steps in the order below will ensure the highest chance for approval of your OPT application. Following the steps out of order or omitting a step may result in a denial of your OPT application, with the possibility of not being able to re-apply.
 

Step 1: Read the ISC information

Step 2: Pay the International Student Optional Practical Training Administrative Processing Fee

Pay the SDSU $100 International Student Optional Practical Training Administrative Processing Fee. You will need to save a screenshot of the payment information or the PDF of your email receipt at completion of the payment process to upload to when requesting your new OPT I-20. You may use this link to access the payment site.

Step 3: Request your new OPT I-20 from the ISC

Request your OPT I-20 by completing the ISC's OPT I-20 Request Form.

When completing the form, you must enter a Requested OPT Start Date. You may choose your Requested OPT Start Date from the appropriate date range:

Step 4: Complete and Gather Required Documents

Please follow the Post-Completion OPT Online I-765 Application Guide to gather your documents and prepare your I-765 application. 

Note: Students who received the new OPT I-20 may have an advisor review a draft of your completed Form I-765 before filing the OPT application by attending an optional OPT Application Review Session via Zoom. Please check the OPT Calendar on this page for upcoming sessions.

Step 5: File your Application with USCIS

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.
  • 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. 

• 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 F-1 immigration status and must depart the U.S. immediately. This violation might affect future U.S. benefit applications. There is no 60-day grace period once 90 days of unemployment has been accrued.

• 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 F-1 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 [email protected] 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

Problems with SEVP Portal

How to Report a Change in Email Address or Name

The ISC advises all OPT students to plan carefully before leaving the U.S.

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 Traveling Outside the U.S page for a complete list of documents

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.

Ending your OPT

If you plan to return home permanently before your Post-completion OPT ends (you won't return to the U.S. and finish your OPT), you will need to complete the Completion/Termination of Immigration Status Form with your date of departure.

Changing Status

If you changed or will change your immigration status from F-1 to another status (whether it is inside the U.S. through a Change of Status application to USCIS or outside the U.S. by obtaining a new visa and entering with that visa), you will need to complete the Completion/Termination of Immigration Status Form and upload the required documents.

Transferring to Another Institution

If you wish to transfer to another institution during your Post-completion OPT or during the 60-day grace period after finishing your Post-completion OPT, you will need to complete the ISC's SEVIS Transfer Request Form, which can be found on the ISC's Forms webpage, and upload the acceptance letter to the new school. This needs to be done at least 10 business days before the date you want your SEVIS record (I-20) to be transferred. Or if you are transferring during your grace period, this needs to be done at least 10 business days before your grace period ends. The date you request us to transfer your SEVIS record (I-20) to the new school will be the last day you can work on OPT.

During Post-completion OPT, you may satisfy employment requirements by doing an unpaid internship or volunteering at least 20 hours per week.

• In your field of study: If you do participate in an unpaid internship or other type of volunteering, remember that it must be directly related to your major field of study.

• Fair Labor Standards Act: In addition, make sure the position is within Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act, which contains regulations regarding unpaid or volunteer work.
  • For more information on these regulations, see the FLSA Fact Sheet (PDF).