Post Completion OPT applicants

Attention:  The New OPT Regulations Contain Many Changes! 
Be Sure You Know the Following:

• NEW! Filing Deadline I at USCIS!

Your OPT application must be received by the USCIS Processing Center within 30 days of the date that SUNYIT office of International Student Services recommends your OPT.  The date can be easily determined by examining the date printed at item 10, page 1 of your new OPT I-20.

• NEW!  Filing Deadline II at USCIS!

The new deadline for submitting your Post-Completion OPT application to the USCIS Processing Center is up to 60 days after your degree completion date as indicated on item 5, page 1 of your OPT I-20 (as long as you do not exceed the 30 day limit from the date ISS recommends your OPT; see Item 1 above).  Remember that it takes up to 90 days for the USCIS to process your application form, delaying filing your application until the deadline means that it will be as much as 90 days from the date USCIS receives your application before you will have your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and can start work.

• NEW!  Days of Unemployment Must Be Counted!

There is now a limit to the number of days you can be on post-completion OPT, unemployed, and still maintain valid F-1 status. Once post-completion OPT is approved, a student cannot exceed a total of 90 days of unemployment beginning with the start date on the EAD card.  This includes any travel periods outside the United States while unemployed. The only exception is that periods of up to ten days between the end of one job and the beginning of the next job will not be included in the calculation for time spent unemployed.

• NEW!  Reporting Requirements!

You are required to report any change to your current name or address to SUNYIT Office of International Student Services within ten days of the change

You are required to report any changes in employment information (including periods of unemployment) to SUNYIT Office of International Student Services within ten days of the change.