Application Procedure for OPT students

Apply fast as soon as you can! Try not to sit tight for an occupation offer. You needn’t bother with a job offer to apply for OPT. Permit three months for preparing by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in addition to extra time for getting your learned counsel’s mark on the OPT Request Form, ISS preparing (one week), and mailing to USCIS. You can’t work until you get OPT endorsement.

You may present your application to USCIS as ahead of schedule as 90 days before your project end date and up to 60 days after your system end date. (Your system end date is the latest day of your last semester, including end of the year tests week, as per the scholastic date-book.) Please take note of that your OPT application must land at the USCIS Service Center inside 30 days of the OPT I-20 issue date, or the solicitation will be refused.

ISS unequivocally urges you to apply for OPT three months before your project end date. Despite the fact that USCIS will acknowledge your application up to 60 days after your project end date, you can’t start work until the appeal is affirmed. A postponed application may bring about deferred work approval and loss of full OPT qualification (12 months) because of the three-month preparing time by USCIS. Here is a visual course of events to delineate the procedure.

How to apply?

If you don’t mind, read the accompanying directions precisely. Despite the fact that ISS gives the data, the OPT application is your application. We don’t favor the application or have the power to impact the procedure. If there is a solicitation for data or to rectify an issue, we will advise you of the solicitation, yet it is your obligation to react. If it’s not too much trouble take note of that if you travel while anticipating endorsement of the application, it could be hard to respond to demands from USCIS about your request. If it’s not too much trouble, make sure you check your College email routinely and make certain that the ISS office has a working phone number for you.

You can choose a bundle of data and structures identified with your OPT application at the ISS office.

1. Steps to Complete your OPT application.

Accumulate the Following Documents:

• Completed Optional Practical Training Request Form
• Completed I-765 Form
• Photocopy of all already issued I-20s (pages 1 and 3)
• Photocopy of travel permits different proof page
• Photocopy of F-1 visa page
• Two travel grant style photographs (see Photo Specifications underneath)
• A copy of your electronic I-94 data which can be acquired here.
• $380 check or cash request payable to “U.S. Branch of Homeland Security” (Do not postdate your check. The dating group for your test ought to be as per the following: month/day/year)
• Completed G-1145 Form (discretionary; it signs you up for email/instant message notice of your application’s landing in USCIS) – Download PDF

Your OPT Request Form

• Application structure must be marked by your scholarly consultant before you submit it for review to ISS.

Picking an OPT Start Date

• The “begin date” is the date your work authorization starts. You can’t work sooner than the begin date, yet you can start working later.
• You’re asked for begin date must be within 60 days after your culmination project period. For instance, on the off chance that you graduate April 29, your begin date can be no later than June 28.
• Changing the asked for OPT dates after the application has been sent to USCIS can be extremely troublesome. Pick your dates precisely.

Photo Specifications rules

• The photographs are more likely than not been taken inside the most recent 30 days (don’t utilize the same photos used for your F-1 visa application; USCIS may see and will give back the application).
• The two pictures ought to have a white foundation.
• They ought to be uncounted, imprinted on slight paper, gleaming, and not re-touched.
• The pictures ought to demonstrate a visa style, full-confront picture, with both ears unmistakable.
• The photos ought to be two by 2 inches, with the separation from the highest point of the head to simply beneath the button around 1 3/8 inches.
• Gently write your name and your I-94 number with pencil on the back of every photograph.
• Passport-style photographs can be gotten at the Lycoming County Courthouse, 25 W. Third Street, Williamsport; the James V. Chestnut Library, 19 E. Fourth Street, Williamsport; Triple A, 1 East Sixth Avenue, South Williamsport; or Walmart, 1015 North Loyalsock Avenue, Montoursville.

Finishing your I-765:

• Item 3: Your Receipt Notice and Employment Authorization Document (EAD card) will be sent to the location you give. By and large, we suggest you utilize our ISS office address: 700 College Place, Campus Box 158, Williamsport, PA 17701
• If you leave grounds before you get your EAD, please make certain the mail room has directions to forward your mail to the ISS office. Our office will require a photocopy of your EAD card. If you utilize our office address, we will naturally make the photocopy in the wake of accepting the EAD and will email you to get your card. On the off chance that it is sent to your location, you should give us a duplicate. See “Every now and again Asked Question” number 10 (beneath) for mailing alternatives from ISS to your new location.
• Item 10: I-94 print-out has an 11-digit number use it. If you don’t have your I-94, please go to https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/.
• Item 11: Check “yes” just on the off chance that you have beforehand gotten an EAD card from USCIS. CPT - Curricular Practical Training does not require a “yes” answer because CPT is not approved by USCIS.
• Items 12, 13, 14, 15: Use the data on your I-94. You can recover your I-94 at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/. Now and again you may have made late short treks to Canada or Mexico, which are not reflected by your present I-94. This is approved, and it will be fine to utilize the data from your I-94 at any rate. On the off opportunity that you have changed to F-1 status inside the U.S., incorporate a duplicate of your Approval Notice.
• Item 16: Use the material code:
• Pre-finish OPT: (c)(3)(A)
• Post-finish OPT: (c)(3)(B)
• Item 17: Leave clear unless you are a STEM major applying for the 17-month OPT augmentation.
• Certification: Sign the request form in blue ink.

Step 2: Submit Your Completed OPT request form to ISS

Make a meeting with the ISS office where your complete OPT application will be evaluated for missing data or amendment. At the point when the OPT application is finished, ISS will issue another, upgraded I-20 with an OPT proposal imprinted on the final page, make duplicates of your application bundle, and come back to you for mailing.

Step 3: Mail Your Application to USCIS

1. Survey the agenda and your application to ensure it is finished.
2. Sign your OPT-supported I-20 at the base of page 1 preceding photocopying it and mailing it to USCIS.
3. Send your application within one month of the new OPT-supported I-20 being issued. Late applications will be denied by USCIS.

• Do not send your unique international ID, I-94, or I-20;
• It is suggested you send your application by insured mail, return receipt asked;
• Send the whole application to the USCIS Dallas Lockbox:

For U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Deliveries:

USCIS

PO Box 660867

Dallas, TX 75266

For Express mail and /Courier Deliveries:

USCIS

Attn: AOS

2501 S. State Hwy. 121 Business

Suite 400

Lewisville, TX 75067

• If your I-765 postage information is outside Pennsylvania State, audit the USCIS mailing directions to locate the right lockbox area.
• E-Notification: If you need to get an email and an instant message that your Form I-765 has been acknowledged at a USCIS Lockbox office, complete Form G-1145 E warning of Application/Petition Acceptance and clasp it to the main page of your request.

After You Send Your OPT Application to United States Citizenship And Immigration Services

United States Citizenship And Immigration Services will mail you a bill notice (I-797 Notice of Action) affirming receipt of your OPT application, doling out a “receipt date,” and relegating a case number. Deliberately survey the notification to ensure your name is spelled effectively. If it is not, contact ISS instantly.

You may utilize the case number on your receipt notification to check the status of your application on the web. It is ordinary for your case status to say “starting audit” for the vast majority of the 2-3 month preparing period.

You may not start work until USCIS supports the OPT application and you have gotten your Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Approved OPT dates will be on your EAD. Make certain to audit the reporting and business prerequisites you should trail OPT endorsement.