The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s has proposed amending its regulations on the optional practical training (“OPT”) program to allow international F-1 students with U.S. degrees in the sciences, technology, engineering, or mathematics (“STEM”) – attained from accredited institutions – to extend by 24 months the standard 12-month OPT period available to them to remain

The 2008 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule allowing certain F-1 visa students with Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) degrees to extend their stay for an additional 17 months of training related to their degrees in the U.S. is deficient, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has

Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 students is intended to provide hands-on practical work experience in the U.S., complementary to the academic program. A foreign student in F status may work for 12 months post-graduation pursuant to OPT. An additional, one-time 17-month extension may be available if the student and employer meet certain qualifications.  After

AUTHOR:  Helen Pihlstrom.

Employers who have submitted cap-subject H-1B petitions should remember that additional actions may be necessary by their current employees who are working pursuant to F-1 Optional Practical Training employment authorization, or OPT.  In many cases, an employee’s OPT employment authorization will expire in the spring or summer after an H-1B cap petition

Despite a marked decrease in H-1B petitions filed to date, USCIS is making little effort to adjudicate its current caseload of H-1B petitions in a timely fashion. The USCIS’s stated processing times for H-1B’s are more than two months off the actual processing times, which are approaching five months and increasing.

The effect of the