OPT Calculator: Deadlines, STEM & Unemployment Days

90 days during post-completion OPT. If you are approved for the STEM extension, 60 more are added, for a lifetime total of 150 days across both periods combined. The word that matters is combined: it is an aggregate cap, not a reset. A student who uses 40 days during initial OPT has 110 days left on STEM, not 150. A great deal of published OPT content states this incorrectly.

No. This is the single most common misunderstanding about OPT. The 150-day figure is a lifetime total across post-completion OPT and the STEM extension together. Days you have already used are not returned to you when STEM is approved — the cap simply rises from 90 to 150.

The filing window opens 90 days before your program end date and closes 60 days after it. File on the first day you possibly can — USCIS processing time comes directly out of your job-search runway, and missing the closing date means losing post-completion OPT permanently. There is no late filing and no appeal.

Paid work of at least 20 hours a week in your field of study, multiple part-time jobs totalling 20+ hours, a documented unpaid internship or volunteer role related to your degree, or self-employment with proper business documentation. Critically, it only counts if you report it in the SEVP Portal — a large share of accrued unemployment days come from students who were working the whole time but never reported it.

If an initial post-completion OPT application is denied, USCIS states that F-1 status expires 60 days from the date the degree program ends or the date of the denial, whichever is later. The exception matters more than the rule: if the application was denied because the student failed to maintain F-1 status, there is no 60-day period — the student is expected to depart the United States immediately. If a STEM OPT extension is denied after the post-completion OPT EAD has already expired, employment authorisation ends on the date of the decision and F-1 status ends 60 days after the denial date. Which branch you are on turns on the stated reason for the denial, so read the notice itself and take it to your DSO before counting any days. A denial is also not always the end of the road — depending on the reason, refiling within the window, a motion to reopen, or reinstatement may be options worth asking your DSO about before you book a flight.

Possibly not, if you move early. The fixed-admission rule effective September 15, 2026 generally requires an extension of stay where your training runs past your admission date, but it carries transition relief for practical training: if you were admitted for duration of status, are in the US and maintaining status on September 15, 2026, and you timely file Form I-765 for post-completion OPT or STEM OPT on or before March 18, 2027, you generally do not have to file a separate Form I-539 for that training period. File after that window and the I-539 is generally required alongside the I-765 — which is where the delayed start dates and gaps in employment people are worried about actually come from. The rule is under legal challenge, so confirm your own position with your DSO before planning around either version.

For students admitted for duration of status, yes — 60 days, and that is what this calculator uses. A DHS final rule published July 17, 2026 and effective September 15, 2026 replaces duration of status with a fixed admission period and a 30-day grace period for students admitted under it. Students already admitted for D/S generally keep 60 days until they travel abroad and re-enter, or file an extension of stay. The rule was challenged in federal court on August 18, 2026 with a hearing set for September 9, 2026, so it may not survive in its current form. Check the admission period on your most recent I-94 and confirm with your DSO rather than assuming either number.

Generally yes. Time spent outside the United States while unemployed during an approved OPT period still counts against the limit. The exception is employer-authorised leave — if you are employed and on approved leave, those days do not accrue. Travelling home to job-hunt remotely does not pause the clock.

You may file up to 90 days before your current EAD expires, and USCIS must receive it before that expiry date. File early — transit time counts against you and a rejection for lateness cannot be cured. You also need your employer enrolled in E-Verify and a completed Form I-983 training plan, both of which take time to arrange.

Exceeding the cap is a status violation. Your SEVIS record can be terminated, which ends work authorisation and generally removes the grace period. It is worth being precise about what does not automatically follow: For a student admitted for duration of status, unlawful presence generally begins only after USCIS formally finds a status violation while deciding a benefit request, or an immigration judge orders removal — not automatically on the day the violation or SEVIS termination occurs. Losing status and accruing unlawful presence are separate problems, and only the second one drives the 3- and 10-year re-entry bars. Neither is a reason to wait — if you are close to the limit, speak to your DSO before you cross it, because the options beforehand are far better than the ones afterwards.

No. For initial post-completion OPT you cannot begin working until the EAD is in hand and the start date printed on it has arrived. This is the danger window: your program has ended and you have no work authorisation yet, which is why filing on the first day of the window matters so much.

Usually yes, and this is the important difference from initial OPT. If you filed the STEM I-765 on time and your current EAD expires while USCIS is still deciding, 8 CFR 274a.12(b)(6)(iv) automatically extends your work authorisation for up to 180 days from the EAD expiry date, or until USCIS decides, whichever comes first. Your employer verifies it using the expired EAD together with the I-20 showing the DSO's STEM recommendation. This protection depends on having filed on time — it does not rescue a late filing.

Yes, and it is the deadline most OPT guides leave out. Under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(B)(2), USCIS must receive your Form I-765 within 30 days of the date your DSO enters the OPT recommendation into your SEVIS record. It runs alongside the 90-days-before / 60-days-after window, not instead of it — you have to satisfy both, and filing inside the outer window but more than 30 days after the recommendation gets the application denied. Ask your DSO for the exact date they entered it. For a STEM extension the equivalent window is 60 days, and it must still reach USCIS before your current EAD expires.