Unpaid Employment for F-1 OPT

Optional Practical Training (OPT) is a work benefit allowed to an F-1 student enrolled in a program for a minimum of nine months.  An F-1 student is eligible for up to a total of 12-month of full-time OPT at each educational level.

In 2008 U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) issued regulations that prohibited a student from accruing more than 90 days of unemployed period during the initial period of OPT.  As a follow up, in 2010 Student & Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) issued OPT Policy Guidance that clarified ‘unpaid employment’ as, “A student may work as a volunteer or unpaid intern, where this practice does not violate any labor laws.  The work must be at least 20 hours per week for a student on a post-completion OPT.  A student must be able to provide evidence acquired from the student’s employer to verify that the student worked at least 20 hours per week during the period of employment”.

Notwithstanding the Policy Guidance, USCIS Service Centers recently started denying OPT science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) extension application filed by students who had served as a volunteer or unpaid intern during their initial period of OPT. USCIS denied the application(s) concluding that applicant’s work as a volunteer or unpaid intern are not valid forms of employment for OPT purposes.

This issue was recently brought to the attention of USCIS Service Center Operation (SCOPS) and it has now issued a Public Announcement acknowledging that these OPT applications were denied in error.  They have advised that if a student’s OPT STEM application was denied solely for the fact that s/he intended to work as a volunteer or unpaid intern, the student should contact the Service Center that issued the denial by sending an email to the dedicated student mailbox (listed below) and provide them with their full name, as well as their USCIS receipt number related to the denied OPT STEM extension application.

California Service Center: CSC.studentEAD@uscis.dhs.gov

Nebraska Service Center: NSC.Schools@uscis.dhs.gov

Texas Service Center: TSC.Schools@uscis.dhs.gov

Vermont Service Center: VSC.Schools@uscis.dhs.gov

We welcome this timely Public Announcement by USCIS SCOPS to all USCIS Service Centers and hope affected students would be able to get their OPT extension requests granted.    We will continue to closely monitor this issue and will provide updates to our readers if new information is made available by USCIS.