Students with existing 17-month STEM OPT EADs may no longer apply to transition their EAD to the 24-month STEM OPT EAD.  If you are a current 17-month STEM OPT participant who applied for the additional seven months by the August 8, 2016 deadline and have questions about the status of your application, please contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Eligible F-1 students interested in transitioning to the 24-month science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) optional practical training (OPT) extension fall into one of two categories. Below, we outline important reminders for these students as we near the end of the transition period.

Students that have a 17-month STEM OPT Employment Authorization Document (EAD)

1. Students with existing 17-month STEM OPT EADs have until August 8, 2016, to submit their applications to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an additional seven months of OPT.
2. These students must take certain steps before filing the Form I-765, “Application for Employment Authorization,” with USCIS. 
3. Remember, students are required to have at least 150 days remaining on their EAD at the time they submit their application to USCIS. This means some students may need to submit their application before August 8, 2016, to guarantee they meet this requirement.

Students that had a pending 17-month STEM OPT application on May 10, 2016

1. Students that had a pending 17-month STEM OPT application should have received a request for evidence (RFE) from USCIS. These students must properly respond to the RFE by the date listed on the notice in order to receive a 24-month STEM OPT extension.
2. If a student fails to respond to the RFE by the specified deadline, USCIS will consider their STEM OPT extension application abandoned and their EAD will expire accordingly. Download this guide to understand the RFE process.
3. USCIS has sent all 24-month STEM OPT RFEs for applications that were pending on May 10, 2016. Any student with a 17-month STEM OPT application pending on May 10, 2016, that has not received an RFE needs to contact USCIS. Alternately, the student’s designated school official (DSO) may contact the USCIS Service Center to which the application was sent.

Visit the STEM OPT Hub for more information about the 24-month STEM OPT extension and share these important reminders on social media using the hashtag #StudyintheStates.