F-1 OPT for UCSF Students

UCSF students who have completed at least 4 consecutive quarters at UCSF, inside the US may be eligible to apply for at least 12 months of post-completion employment authorization. This employment authorization is known as post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT).

This page is intended for UCSF students who are nearing the end of their academic program at UCSF and wish to apply for post-completion OPT. Please read all information on this page before you start the process of applying for OPT to understand what steps you must take as well as the key dates and requirements you must meet to successfully transition from being a full-time enrolled student to a student on OPT.

The process of applying for OPT will involve working with your program, your faculty advisor, and the ISSO.

When to Apply for OPT

The earliest you can apply for OPT is 90 days before your F-1 program completion date (Section 5 of your I-20). If you will graduate earlier than the end date on your I-20, that's okay. The ISSO will adjust your end date once your OPT request has been submitted.

Doctoral students are eligible to apply for OPT upon advancing to candidacy if they would like. Students must complete all required coursework to be eligible for post-completion OPT but submitting your dissertation is not required.

The latest date the USCIS will accept your application is 60 days after the completion date on your most recent I-20.

How to Apply for OPT?

Obtain an OPT Recommendation

Before you can apply for your EAD, you must receive a new I-20 with an OPT recommendation on Page 2 from the ISSO.

To obtain an I-20 with an OPT recommendation you must complete 2 steps:

  1. Complete the ISSO OPT Orientation Course and receive a certificate of completion. All students will be invited to this course around 100 days before the end date on their current I-20. If your current I-20 end date is not correct, please email [email protected] to be invited to this course.
  2. Submit the ISSO OPT Recommendation form. The form must be signed by your program administrator or faculty advisor (PI).

You may email both documents to [email protected]u to initiate the OPT recommendation process. As long as there are no issues on either document, you will receive a new I-20 with an OPT recommendation within 5 business days.

KEY DATES

  • You may not request OPT more than 90 days before your program end date.
  • You can only select an OPT start date that is within 60 days of the end date on your I-20.
  • You MUST apply for your EAD (see below) within 30 days of the date on your OPT I-20.

If you cannot apply for your EAD within 30 days of receiving your I-20 with the OPT recommendation, please contact the ISSO. That I-20 will need to be canceled and a new I-20 will need to be issued.

 

Apply for an EAD

Once you have received your I-20 with an OPT recommendation, you may apply for your EAD by submitting the form I-765 online.

Instructions on how to complete the form I-765 are included in the ISSO F-1 OPT Orientation so please follow those. UCSF students can also access a PowerPoint description of the steps.

If you wish to apply for Premium Processing of your I-765, you may file the Form I-907 in addition to the Form I-765. There is an additional cost to using the Premium Processing service but it will result in an application decision within 30 days. This may be advantageous to students with a fixed start date for their post-completion training since it will provide more certainty about when the EAD can be expected.

 

Begin Your OPT

Once your I-765 application has been approved, you must wait for your physical EAD to arrive at the address you indicated on your application.

IMPORTANT

  • You must stop all employment once the end date on your I-20 has passed.
  • You may only resume employment once you have received your EAD and the start date on the EAD has passed.

Once the start date on your EAD has passed, your post-completion OPT has begun. From this time you must be working at least 20 hours per week in a job that is related to your major at UCSF. See below for instructions on how to report your OPT to the ISSO.

If you have not found a qualifying position before the start date on your EAD, you will begin to use unemployment days. In total, you are allowed 90 days of unemployment while using post-completion OPT.

As you approach the end date of your post-completion OPT, you may want to consider your next steps. Some UCSF academic programs are classified as STEM majors, and students who graduate from these programs may be eligible to apply for an additional 24 months of work authorization ("STEM OPT Extension"). Your ISSO advisor will assist if you wish to apply for this extension.

If you are not eligible for a STEM OPT extension, your OPT will end from end date on your EAD. At that time, you will enter a 60-day grace period. During this grace period, you may change your education level, change your visa status to another type visa, or transfer your F-1 to another school. However, during the grace period, you cannot continue working unless you are the beneficiary of an H-1B petition and, therefore, qualify for a Cap-Gap extension.

Unless you have taken any of the actions described above, you must depart the US before the end of your 60-day grace period.

Reporting Your OPT Information to the ISSO

While you are on OPT, you must report any changes to your address or employment information to the ISSO within 10 days of any change. Please use the ISSO OPT reporting form to submit any changes to the ISSO.

Once you report your OPT employment information, you may request a new I-20 with your employer printed on Page 2 of your I-20. We strongly recommend that you have your current employer(s) listed on your I-20 at all times.

Upon being approved for OPT, you will be given the option of creating a Student Portal in SEVIS to keep your employment information updated. If you wish to use the SEVIS Portal to manage your employment information, please indicate this in the ISSO OPT Form so a duplicate employer is not added to your SEVIS record by mistake.

Important OPT Reminders

  • For pre-completion OPT, you can file Form I-765 up to 90 days before being enrolled for a full academic year, as long as the OPT will not begin until after you have completed a full academic year. If you have been enrolled for a full academic year, you can file Form I-765 up to 120 days prior to the requested OPT start date.
  • For post-completion OPT, you can file Form I-765 up to 90 days before your program end date and no later than 60 days after your program end date.
  • The Form I-765 must be received by USCIS within 30 days of the date your advisor made the OPT recommendation in SEVIS (see page 1 of the printed Form I-20 for the date).
  • Your OPT employment must be directly related to your field of study and cannot begin until you have the EAD card in hand (and the start date has arrived).
  • F-1 status is dependent upon full-time employment (20 hours a week or more) or volunteer service while on post-completion OPT.
  • You cannot accrue more than 90 days of unemployment while on post-completion OPT. If you are close to 90 days, consult with the international student advisor.
  • You will need to continue to update the international student advisor with address changes and changes in employment while on post-completion OPT.