24-Month STEM OPT Reporting Requirements
- Maintaining lawful U.S. immigration status during the 24-Month STEM OPT Extension requires continued contact with the Office of Global Services (OGS).
- Timely report any U.S. address and/or phone number updates via SEVP Portal.
- Timely notify OGS of any material change to your employment by emailing your updated Form I-983.
- Validate your STEM OPT Participation at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of this authorization.
1. Email image of STEM OPT EAD to OGS
Once USCIS approves the 24-Month STEM OPT Extension, you will receive a new Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Please email images of the front and back of your card to your STEM Advisor.
2. Log any change to U.S. address and/or phone number
Report new contact information within 10 calendar days after the change using the SEVP Portal.
Users who already set up their account but have been locked out can request a password reset on the login page. If you did not set up your SEVP Portal during the first year of OPT, email your STEM Advisor for assistance and see our current processing time.
If OGS has reset your SEVP Portal and you did not receive an email from do-not-reply.SEVP@ice.dhs.gov in your NetID@georgetown.edu inbox, check your Spam, Junk, or Trash folders in case of mistaken filtering before visiting the SEVP Portal Help website.
3. Update Form I-983 for any material change to employment
Within 10 calendar days, email your revised Form I-983 to your STEM Advisor for any change to the employer name, employer address (page 2), site address (page 3), employer EIN, supervisor name and/or contact information, job description, salary, or decrease in regular scheduled work hours.
If your role ends, use the evaluation range on page 5 of Form I-983 to indicate your last day of employment and email the signed final evaluation to your STEM Advisor within calendar 10 days.
To begin a new role, you must email the employer’s E-Verify number and completed Form I-983 to your STEM Advisor within 10 calendar days. Reference the STEM OPT Canvas module for additional guidance on Form I-983. Responses must be typed–signatures may be electronic or physical.
4. Email OGS every 6 months to validate STEM OPT participation
Email your STEM Advisor with your current U.S. address, U.S. phone number, employer name, and employer address. In your email, confirm that your most recent Form I-983 is still accurate or provide an updated version to reflect recent/upcoming changes (see above) and/or an evaluation (see below).
OGS validates your SEVIS record within the published processing time–separately from U.S. government deadlines for F-1 students, schools have time to update your SEVIS record with the information we receive from you. Until OGS processing is complete, SEVP Portal alerts will continue to display even after you timely provide the required information to OGS.
Validations are due 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after your STEM EAD start date. The SEVP Portal will email your NetID@georgetown.edu address 30 calendar days before each deadline. OGS recommends self-tracking your validations independently of these automated reminders.
Validations #2 and #4 also require a self-evaluation signed by your employer on Form I-983.
- Annual evaluation (top half of page 5) due by end of first year of STEM OPT.
- Final evaluation (lower half of page 5) due by end of second year of STEM OPT.
- Final evaluation due any time you end a period of employment during STEM OPT.
5. End of STEM OPT
Many students ultimately use less than their full authorized amount of STEM OPT. When reported, no stigma results from ending STEM OPT early. Email this form (Report Early End of STEM OPT PDF) and your I-983 Final Evaluation to your STEM Advisor when you:
- Exit the United States before your STEM OPT EAD end date and will not return to continue STEM OPT
- Begin a different status in the United States
- Begin a new program of study in the United States
If you are admitted to and will begin a new program of study, you must end STEM OPT employment and obtain a new Form I-20 for this program (normally via F-1 SEVIS transfer). Email your STEM Advisor to provide your I-983 Final Evaluation, admission letter, and the Transfer Out Request Form.
The 24-Month STEM OPT Extension allows maximum 60 calendar unemployment days plus any unused unemployment days from the maximum 90 allowed during the first year of post-graduation OPT.
- A student who used 0 unemployment days during the first year of post-graduation OPT could be unemployed for as many as 150 days during the 24-Month STEM OPT Extension.
- A student who used 70 unemployment days during the first year of post-graduation OPT could be unemployed for as many as 80 days during the 24-Month STEM OPT Extension.
- Prevent unemployment day 151 by notifying OGS either to complete your SEVIS record when you exit the United States or to transfer your F-1 status for further study.
Students who maintain F-1 status until their STEM OPT EAD end date have a 60-day grace period to remain in the United States and “prepare for departure” (or transfer their SEVIS record for further study). This grace period does not allow readmission to the United States after travel outside the United States.
OGS F-1 advising remains available during the 24-Month STEM OPT Extension via published resources, email, and meeting with a Designated School Official (DSO). Failure to comply with your responsibilities during the 24-Month STEM OPT Extension may result in loss of immigration status.