USCIS

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says the 24-month STEM Optional Practical Training extension remains available to certain F-1 students who have completed qualifying science, technology, engineering or mathematics degrees and are already in a valid period of post-completion OPT. The pathway is not a separate visa category and it is not a permanent immigration status, but it can extend the time a graduate is authorized to work in the United States in a job directly related to a qualifying degree. For international students, including Turkish students comparing U.S. programs or preparing for a post-graduation job search, the key point is that eligibility depends on the degree, the school, the employer, the training plan and a timely USCIS filing, not simply on having studied in a field that sounds technical.

How the STEM OPT extension fits into F-1 practical training

Practical training is the part of F-1 student status that allows employment connected to a student’s major area of study. Federal guidance describes three main forms: Curricular Practical Training, standard Optional Practical Training before or after completion of a program, and the STEM OPT extension. ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program describes standard OPT as training, often paid, that directly relates to the student’s program of study and may occur before completion or after graduation; STEM OPT is the additional 24-month extension of post-completion OPT for qualifying students with STEM degrees.

The current 24-month extension traces back to a Department of Homeland Security final rule published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2016. That rule allowed certain F-1 students with STEM degrees from U.S. institutions of higher education, after electing 12 months of OPT, to extend the OPT period by 24 months. The same rule replaced the earlier 17-month STEM OPT extension and added oversight measures, including formal training plans, wage and worker protections, accredited-school requirements and the continuing requirement that STEM OPT employers participate in E-Verify.

USCIS guidance states that an F-1 student who qualifies may receive the STEM OPT extension for a fixed and uninterrupted 24-month period. The extension starts the day after the student’s initial post-completion OPT expires, not on the date USCIS finishes adjudicating the application. That timing matters because a delayed approval does not restart the 24-month clock. Students should therefore plan around the expiration date on their current Employment Authorization Document and the deadlines attached to the DSO recommendation and Form I-765 filing.

Degree eligibility depends on the official STEM list

USCIS says a student must have earned a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in a field whose Department of Education Classification of Instructional Programs code appears on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List. DHS describes that list as the complete list of fields it considers STEM for the purpose of the 24-month STEM OPT extension under 8 CFR 214.2(f). The list includes four primary two-digit CIP series: Engineering; Biological and Biomedical Sciences; Mathematics and Statistics; and Physical Sciences. It also includes qualifying fields from related CIP series, such as Computer and Information Sciences, Engineering Technologies, Health Professions, Social Sciences and certain Business-related programs when the specific CIP code appears on the DHS list.

Students should not rely on the marketing name of a major alone. A program labeled analytics, management, information systems, biotechnology or data science may or may not qualify depending on the CIP code assigned to the degree and reflected in the student’s SEVIS record and Form I-20. USCIS guidance also allows some students to seek a STEM OPT extension based on a previously earned STEM degree, but only if the prior degree meets specific conditions, including that it came from a U.S. institution that is accredited and SEVP-certified at the relevant time, appears on the DHS STEM list at the time of the DSO recommendation, was conferred within the preceding 10 years, and is directly related to the practical training opportunity.

The extension is limited in other ways. USCIS states that the 24-month STEM OPT extension can be granted only once per qualifying degree and that a student who does not fully use an extension is not eligible for a later STEM extension based on the same qualifying degree. The student must already have been granted OPT and must be in a valid period of post-completion OPT when applying. The school must be accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency and certified by ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program when the STEM OPT extension application is submitted.

Employer and training-plan rules are central

STEM OPT is not simply an open work permit for any employer. USCIS lists several employer requirements, including enrollment in E-Verify, continued good standing in E-Verify, a valid Employer Identification Number, a formal training program, and an opportunity that is commensurate with similarly situated U.S. workers in duties, hours and compensation. E-Verify’s own public guidance says employers must enroll, sign the E-Verify memorandum of understanding and participate in E-Verify in order to employ F-1 students seeking a STEM OPT extension. The student must also work at least 20 hours per week for each qualifying STEM OPT employer.

The job must be a bona fide practical training opportunity tied to the qualifying STEM degree. USCIS guidance says the student may not be in arrangements that are not genuine employer-employee relationships, such as certain multiple-employer, sole-proprietorship, temp-agency or consulting-firm labor-for-hire structures. The agency also says start-up businesses may qualify if they satisfy the regulatory requirements, including having resources to comply with the training plan, remaining in good standing with E-Verify and providing compensation commensurate with similarly situated U.S. workers. Study in the States, DHS’s student-focused resource, adds that STEM OPT students may participate in entrepreneurial ventures if they are employees, but they may not act as their own employer or sign the training plan on the employer’s behalf.

The formal training plan is documented on Form I-983, Training Plan for STEM OPT Students. Study in the States says the student and employer must complete and sign the form before the student may apply for the STEM OPT extension. The plan must explain how the practical training directly relates to the qualifying STEM degree, identify the specific training goals, describe how those goals will be achieved, set out the performance-evaluation process, and explain the employer’s oversight and supervision. The employer must also affirm that it has sufficient resources and personnel, that the student will not replace a U.S. worker, and that the opportunity will help the student meet the training objectives.

Filing deadlines, pending applications and reporting duties

The application process moves through both the school and USCIS. The student first works with the employer to complete Form I-983 and gives it to the designated school official. After reviewing the training plan and confirming eligibility, the DSO enters the STEM OPT recommendation in SEVIS and issues an updated Form I-20 reflecting the recommendation. USCIS says the student may then file Form I-765 for employment authorization up to 90 days before the current post-completion OPT EAD expires and no more than 60 days after the DSO enters the STEM OPT recommendation in SEVIS.

A timely and properly filed application can preserve work authorization while USCIS reviews the case. USCIS guidance says students who properly file Form I-765 for the 24-month OPT extension may continue working until USCIS issues a written decision or for up to 180 days after the current post-completion OPT expires, whichever comes first. If USCIS approves the application, the student continues working under the terms and conditions of the new EAD. If the application is denied after the post-completion OPT EAD has expired, USCIS says OPT employment authorization ends on the date of the decision and F-1 status generally ends 60 days after the denial, unless the denial was based on failure to maintain F-1 status, in which case the student must depart immediately.

Approval is not the end of compliance. STEM OPT students and employers have continuing reporting duties. DHS’s Study in the States materials say students and employers must report material changes or deviations from the Form I-983 training plan to the DSO, including changes to the employer’s EIN caused by ownership or structural changes, reductions in compensation not tied to reduced hours, significant decreases in weekly hours, or changes to the employer commitments or student learning objectives. Students must also complete self-evaluations: the first within 12 months of the STEM OPT start date and a final evaluation at the end of the training period, with evaluations submitted no later than 10 days after the relevant reporting period or the end of the practical training opportunity.

Planning considerations for Turkish and other international students

For Turkish students and other foreign nationals considering U.S. study, STEM OPT can be an important planning factor, but it should be understood carefully. There is no separate USCIS rule in the STEM OPT guidance that gives a nationality-based advantage to Turkish students; the relevant status is F-1, and the controlling requirements are the same for eligible students regardless of country of citizenship. A student comparing universities should confirm that the school is SEVP-certified, that the program’s CIP code appears on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List if STEM OPT is part of the plan, and that future employment would be with an E-Verify employer in a role directly related to the qualifying STEM degree.

The extension also should not be confused with long-term immigration sponsorship. It may provide up to two additional years of work authorization after standard post-completion OPT for students who meet the rules, and the 2016 DHS rule also preserved cap-gap relief for eligible F-1 students with timely filed H-1B petitions and change-of-status requests. But STEM OPT by itself does not guarantee selection in an H-1B process, permanent residence sponsorship or future lawful status after the authorized period ends. The safest approach is to treat STEM OPT as a regulated training benefit: coordinate early with the school’s DSO, verify the CIP code and employer eligibility before accepting a position, keep Form I-983 current, and track USCIS and SEVP deadlines closely.