F-1 OPT, STEM OPT and CPT: how practical training works for international students

Key terms

A designated school official (DSO) is the school employee who manages international students' records in SEVIS, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System run by the Department of Homeland Security. An Employment Authorization Document (EAD, Form I-766) is the card USCIS issues as proof that a person may work. Form I-765 is the application for it. Form I-20 is the school's certificate for an F-1 student, and the DSO records training recommendations on it.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11); 9 FAM 402.5-5(N)(3)–(9)

Who can get practical training?

Under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10), practical training is available to an F-1 student who has been lawfully enrolled full time for one full academic year at an SEVP-certified college, university, conservatory or seminary. Time in a study abroad program can count if the student first spent at least one full academic term studying full time in the United States.

• The training must be in a job directly related to the student's major area of study.
• A student may have 12 months of practical training, and gets another 12 months on moving to a higher educational level.
• Students in English language training programs cannot get practical training.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10) and (10)(i)

What is CPT, curricular practical training?

CPT is training that is an integral part of an established curriculum: alternative work/study, an internship, cooperative education, or another required internship or practicum offered by employers through cooperative agreements with the school. The DSO authorizes it, not USCIS. The DSO records it in SEVIS as full time or part time, with the employer, location and start and end dates, and signs the I-20 before work starts.

The one-academic-year rule has an exception for graduate programs that require students to start CPT immediately. CPT can only happen during the course of study. And there is a trade-off: a student who has done one year or more of full-time CPT cannot get OPT after completing their studies.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10) and (10)(i); 9 FAM 402.5-5(N)(3)–(9)

What is OPT, and when can it happen?

OPT is temporary employment directly related to the major, authorized by USCIS. The regulation allows it at three points:

• During the annual vacation and other times school is not in session, if the student is enrolled and intends to register for the next term.
• While school is in session, for no more than 20 hours a week.
• After completing the course of study or, in a bachelor's, master's or doctoral program, after completing all course requirements except a thesis or equivalent. The State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) says post-completion OPT must be full time.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(A)–(B); 9 FAM 402.5-5(N)(3)–(9)

Limits on OPT

• All practical training must be completed within 14 months after the student completes their studies. A STEM extension does not have to fit inside that 14-month window.
• OPT ends automatically if the student transfers to another school or begins study at another educational level.
• The student may not start work before the start date on their EAD, and may not request a start date more than 30 days after the program end date.
• During post-completion OPT, F-1 status depends on employment. A student may not accumulate more than 90 days of unemployment in total during post-completion OPT, or 150 days in total across OPT and a STEM extension.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(A)–(B); 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11); 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(D)–(E)

How do you apply for OPT?

• Ask the DSO for a recommendation. The DSO checks eligibility, enters the recommendation in SEVIS with full-time or part-time status and the start and end dates, and gives the student a signed I-20 showing it.
• File Form I-765 with USCIS, with the fee and the supporting documents its instructions ask for.
• Pre-completion OPT: the I-765 can be filed up to 90 days before the student has been enrolled for one full academic year, as long as the work does not start before that year is complete.
• Post-completion OPT: the I-765 can be filed up to 90 days before the program end date and no later than 30 days after it. It must also be filed within 30 days of the date the DSO enters the recommendation in SEVIS.
• USCIS decides the I-765. If granted, post-completion OPT starts on the requested date or the date of decision, whichever is later. A denial cannot be appealed.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)

Do you also need an extension of stay?

As our student visa guide explains, F-1 students are now admitted for a fixed period. Under the current regulation, unless an exception in 8 CFR 214.1(m)(1)(i) applies, a student recommended for post-completion OPT must apply for employment authorization and either apply to USCIS for an extension of stay or be admitted by CBP after travel abroad, and cannot begin OPT until the employment authorization is granted. The text of 214.1(m) was not among the sources checked for this guide, so ask the DSO how this applies before relying on it.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(D)–(E)

The 24-month STEM OPT extension

A student already in a valid period of post-completion OPT can apply for a 24-month extension if all of these are true:

• The degree is a bachelor's, master's or doctorate in a field on DHS's STEM Designated Degree Program List at the time the DSO makes the recommendation, from a US institution accredited by an agency the Department of Education recognizes. It can be an earlier degree, if it was conferred within the past 10 years by an accredited, SEVP-certified US institution.
• The employer is enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing, and has an employer identification number (EIN).
• The student and employer complete and sign Form I-983, the Training Plan for STEM OPT Students, before the DSO recommends the extension.
• The training is for at least 20 hours a week, with duties, hours and pay that match those of the employer's similarly situated US workers, and the student does not replace a US worker.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C)

STEM OPT deadlines, reporting and limits

• File the I-765 up to 90 days before the current OPT EAD expires, and within 60 days of the date the DSO enters the recommendation in SEVIS.
• The extension runs from the day after the first OPT EAD expires, for 24 months, whatever the date USCIS decides it.
• If the application and the DSO recommendation were timely and the current EAD expires while the application is pending, the EAD is extended automatically on the terms in 8 CFR 274a.12(b)(6)(iv). The FAM describes this as 180 days; the text of 274a.12 was not among the sources checked.
• A student may have no more than two STEM extensions in a lifetime, and a second one must be based on a degree at a higher level.
• The student reports a change of name, address, employer or employer address, or loss of employment, to the DSO within 10 days, and files a validation report every six months.
• The employer reports the student's termination or departure to the DSO within five business days. A 12-month self-evaluation and a final evaluation are required.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11); 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C); 8 CFR 214.2(f)(12)–(13); 9 FAM 402.5-5(N)(3)–(9)

Fees, as of 19 October 2026

As of 19 October 2026, the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055 (edition 10/16/26), lists the general Form I-765 filing fee at $520 on paper or $470 online, per application. Premium processing, requested on Form I-907, is available for I-765 applications in the OPT and STEM OPT categories. The I-907 fee is paid in addition to the filing fee; see the I-907 table in the current Form G-1055.

Fees change, so check the current Form G-1055 before filing. These are government fees; school fees, lawyer fees and other costs are separate.

Sources: Form G-1055, Fee Schedule (edition 10/16/26), Appendix C, I-765; Form G-1055, Fee Schedule (edition 10/16/26), I-907

Timing

Standard I-765 processing times vary; check the official USCIS processing-times page. With premium processing, USCIS commits to take action on an I-765 within 30 business days, or refund the premium fee. Action can be a decision, a request for evidence (RFE), a notice of intent to deny or opening a fraud investigation. An RFE or notice of intent to deny stops the clock, and a new 30-business-day period starts when USCIS receives the response.

If an F-1 student is the beneficiary of a timely filed, nonfrivolous cap-subject H-1B petition that requests a change of status and an employment start date in that fiscal year, the current regulation automatically extends the student's F-1 status and post-completion or STEM OPT employment authorization until 1 April of that fiscal year or the validity start date of the approved petition, whichever is earlier. The extension ends if the petition is rejected, denied, revoked or withdrawn, or the change of status is denied or withdrawn, and it does not apply to a student who has violated their status. This is called the cap gap. The FAM still describes an older version ending on 30 September.

Sources: USCIS, How Do I Request Premium Processing?; 8 CFR 214.2(f)(5)(vii); 9 FAM 402.5-5(N)(3)–(9)

Family members

F-2 spouses and children of an F-1 student may not work.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.5-5(N)(3)–(9)

Common problems

• Starting work before the EAD start date, or before the DSO has endorsed CPT on the I-20.
• Missing the 30-day window after the DSO's SEVIS recommendation, or the 60-day window for STEM OPT.
• Using a year or more of full-time CPT and losing post-completion OPT.
• Going over the unemployment limit of 90 days, or 150 days with a STEM extension.
• Traveling while an OPT application is pending. The FAM notes that USCIS sends requests for evidence and EADs only to a US address, and a student re-entering for post-completion OPT needs the EAD and an I-20 endorsed for travel by the DSO within the last six months.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10) and (10)(i); 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(A)–(B); 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11); 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(D)–(E); 8 CFR 214.2(f)(12)–(13); 9 FAM 402.5-5(N)(3)–(9)

How Visa Trouble can help

We can point you to official information, but we don’t assess or prepare OPT or STEM OPT applications. Free route discovery at Visa Trouble can show routes worth comparing if your plans go beyond this one. Visa Trouble is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.