Stem OPT News
UPDATE May 11, 2016
The 24-month STEM rule took effect on May 10. USCIS will no longer accpet applications for the 17-month STEM extension. For next steps to apply for the additional 7-month STEM extension or for the 24-month STEM extension, visit the Employment Options section of the OIE website.
UPDATE April 14, 2016
The new 24-month STEM OPT rule is effective Tuesday, May 10, 2016. This means that students cannot apply for or receive the new 24-month benefit outlined in the regulation until May 10th. OIE has developed a handout on determining eligibility for the benefit. Read this information carefully. OIE encourages students to also utilitze the planning tools from the Study in the States website to determine eligibility for the new STEM benefit. The OIE presentation from April 18th on this new benefit is available for viewing.
UPDATE March 15, 2016
The final 24-month STEM OPT rule was published in the Federal Register on Friday, March 11, 2016. The new 24-month STEM OPT rule is effective Tuesday, May 10, 2016. This means that students cannot apply for or receive the new 24-month benefit outlined in the regulation until May 10th. OIE has provided a summary of the new rule here.
The current 17-month STEM OPT rule remains effective through May 9, 2016, and will continue to govern the STEM OPT extensions that were approved prior to May 10, 2016 and for which a 7-month extension has not been requested.
We are currently reading through the new rule and during the next two months, OIE will be developing information to share with students. We recommend that you continue to monitor the OIE website and read emails from OIE carefully to see how the STEM rule will affect you and for next steps.
UPDATE March 9, 2016
On March 2, 2016, OMB completed its review of the final STEM OPT rule. The next step is for DHS to send the rule to the Federal Register for publication. We won't know what, if any, changes to the proposed rule were made in the final rule in response to public comment, or the effective date of the rule, until it appears in the Federal Register. Once the final rule has been published, OIE will develop information to share with students. Continue to monitor the OIE website and read emails from OIE carefully.
UPDATE January 25, 2016
On January 23rd, the Court granted Homeland Security’s motion and has delayed the vacatur of the STEM OPT extension until May 10, 2016, giving the government more time to publish a final rule as the judge had required in her earlier ruling. This means that the STEM OPT benefit continues, without change, until May 10th or until a final rule making changes is published and effective.
UPDATE January 11, 2016
Homeland Security has requested that the Feb. 12, 2016 deadline be extended to May 10, 2016 in order to consider the record-breaking number (over 50,000) of comments received about the proposed OPT rule. We do not know what the judge will decide but will provide an update when we have additional news.
UPDATE October 20, 2015:
A proposed rule providing STEM OPT and CAP GAP benefits has been published in the Federal Register on 10/19/2015. This proposed rule provides a 30 day period for public comment. Instructions for how to submit comments are provided in the rule. After the 30 day comment period ends, Homeland Security will review all comments submitted. They will then consider whether any changes to the rule should be made. A final rule, which may include changes to the proposed rule, will be sent to the Office of Management and Budget for publishing in the Federal Register. We do not know when the final rule will be published and until the final rule is published in the Federal Register, we will not know the exact details, the effective date of the new regulations, or how this will impact current or future STEM applications. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
BACKGROUND: Many students may have read about an update in a court case [Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)] that is challenging the STEM OPT rule. Recently the court hearing the WashTech case issued a ruling on the parties’ motions, which may cause some concern for F-1 students. It is important to note that the 12 month OPT regulation is not part of this court case at this point.
What we know now is that the court has found that the 2008 rule creating the STEM extension was defective and vacated the rule (and the STEM extension), effective Feb. 12, 2016. In other words, the STEM extension remains intact at least for the next six months. Perhaps the more important news is that the decision gives DHS six months to remedy the defective rule.
Current STEM OPT is still valid and applications in the pipeline are not impacted by this rule as no changes would take place until February 2016. For an overview of the STEM extension and eligible fields, check the OIE STEM news page.
OIE will keep our international community updated with any changes to the rule as we learn about them.