STEM OPT Eligibility Requirements (draft-local-do-not-publish)

To qualify for a STEM OPT extension, a student must satisfy four independent sets of requirements: they must currently be in a valid period of post-completion OPT, hold a qualifying STEM degree from an eligible institution, pursue training directly related to that degree, and work for an employer that meets specific compliance criteria.¹

Student Status Requirements

The student must be an F-1 nonimmigrant currently in a valid period of post-completion OPT at the time of filing.¹ A student whose OPT has already expired is not eligible, even if the expiration occurred only recently. Students in the 60-day grace period following the end of OPT are also ineligible — the STEM OPT application must be filed while employment authorization is still active.²

The student must have maintained valid F-1 status throughout their academic program and OPT period. Status violations, including exceeding the 90-day unemployment limit during initial OPT, are grounds for denial. Students must also have been enrolled full-time at an SEVP-certified school for at least one full academic year prior to OPT.³

Qualifying Degree Requirements

The student must hold a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree in a field that appears on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List.¹ Associate degrees and professional degrees such as J.D. or M.D. do not qualify, even if the field of study would otherwise be considered STEM. The degree must have been awarded — a student who is enrolled in a STEM program but has not yet received the degree cannot apply for STEM OPT.

The DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List is maintained by ICE and uses the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) taxonomy from the U.S. Department of Education. DHS defines a STEM field as a field in the CIP two-digit series containing engineering (CIP code 14), biological sciences (CIP code 26), mathematics (CIP code 27), and physical sciences (CIP code 40), or a related field.² "Related fields" include disciplines that involve research, innovation, or development of new technologies using engineering, mathematics, computer science, or natural sciences.⁴ As of the 2022 list, the STEM Designated Degree Program List includes over 100 CIP codes covering areas such as computer science, actuarial science, data science, economics (research-focused), and certain social sciences with quantitative emphasis such as econometrics.⁵

The CIP code printed on the student's academic transcript and Form I-20 is the authoritative record. If a student's program has a CIP code that is not on the STEM list, the degree does not qualify regardless of the subject matter of individual courses. The DSO and registrar can confirm the CIP code assigned to a student's program.³

Prior STEM Degree Eligibility

A student on OPT based on a non-STEM degree may use a previously earned STEM degree to qualify for the extension, subject to three conditions: (1) the prior STEM degree must be from a currently accredited and SEVP-certified institution; (2) the student must not have already received a STEM OPT extension based on that same prior degree; and (3) the practical training opportunity must be directly related to the prior STEM degree, not merely to the non-STEM degree being used for the current OPT.¹

For example, a student who earned a bachelor's degree in computer science (a qualifying STEM field) and subsequently earned a master's degree in business administration (a non-STEM field) may apply for a STEM OPT extension based on the computer science degree, provided the job is directly related to computer science.⁴

Institutional Requirements

The institution from which the qualifying STEM degree was earned must meet two criteria at the time the STEM OPT application is submitted to USCIS (not merely at the time the degree was conferred): it must be accredited by a Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency, and it must be certified by SEVP.¹ If an institution has lost SEVP certification or accreditation since the student graduated, degrees from that institution no longer support STEM OPT applications.

The institution recommending the STEM OPT extension (i.e., the school whose DSO enters the recommendation in SEVIS) does not have to be the same institution that awarded the STEM degree — this matters in the prior-degree scenario where a student attended two different schools.[@dhs-i983-students]

Employer Eligibility Requirements

The employer that employs the STEM OPT student and signs Form I-983 must satisfy all of the following:¹

The employer must be enrolled in E-Verify and have a valid E-Verify Company Identification Number or, if using an employer agent to create E-Verify cases, a valid E-Verify Client Company Identification Number. Enrollment in E-Verify is itself not sufficient — the employer must be in good standing, meaning not in a terminated or probationary E-Verify status at the time of the STEM OPT application and throughout the STEM OPT period.⁴

The employer must have a valid Employer Identification Number (EIN) issued by the IRS. The employer must offer at least 20 hours of work per week. The position must be a paid role — volunteer work, unpaid internships, and below-market arrangements that do not provide compensation commensurate with similarly situated US workers do not qualify.²

The employer must maintain a bona fide employer-employee relationship with the student. This means the employer signing Form I-983 must be the same entity that directly supervises and trains the student. Arrangements where the student is formally employed by a staffing agency but is supervised entirely by a client company do not satisfy this requirement, because the entity signing the form is not the entity providing the training.⁴

Training Relationship Requirements

The OPT opportunity must be directly related to the qualifying STEM degree. USCIS does not require that the job title match the degree name, but the student and employer must be able to articulate a clear and specific connection between the degree's technical content and the work being performed.¹ The Form I-983 training plan must describe this relationship, and USCIS may issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) if the connection is unclear or appears tenuous.

Self-employment does not qualify. F-1 students cannot sign Form I-983 as both employer and employee; a genuine third-party employer must sign the training plan.² Entrepreneurs who have incorporated a company and own a controlling interest may face scrutiny about whether a bona fide employer-employee relationship exists; DHS has acknowledged in guidance that start-up participation is possible in principle but requires all regulatory requirements to be met, including that the company has sufficient resources to provide the described training.⁴