United States: When working under post-completion OPT, track your days of unemployment; cumulative unemployment cannot exceed 90 days (150 days total for STEM extensions)

Optional Practical Training (OPT) grants F-1 international students temporary employment authorization in the United States, but legal immigration status during OPT strictly depends on active employment. If cumulative days of unemployment exceed 90 days, your F-1 SEVIS status may be terminated, requiring you to leave the United States. If granted a 24-month STEM OPT extension, the aggregate cumulative unemployment limit across the entire period (initial OPT plus STEM extension) cannot exceed 150 days. Having an unrecorded employer in SEVIS counts as unemployment.

Free. Keep a meticulous personal log recording start and end dates of every period of unemployment. Promptly report new employer details and employment start dates to your university's Designated School Official (DSO) through the SEVP portal. The friction is the stress of watching the 90-day clock tick during difficult job markets.

Under U.S. federal immigration regulations (8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(E) and 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(B)), maintaining F-1 non-immigrant status during post-completion OPT requires active qualifying employment. A student may not accrue more than a cumulative total of 90 days of unemployment during the initial 12-month post-completion OPT authorization period. Students granted a 24-month STEM OPT extension receive an additional 60 days of allowed unemployment, resulting in a maximum aggregate cap of 150 days across the entire OPT lifecycle. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) guidance decrees that if no employer information is reported in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), the student is classified as unemployed. Once 90 days of accrued unemployment are reached, SEVP officers possess regulatory authority to manually terminate the SEVIS record. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rules dictate that initial post-completion OPT applications can be filed up to 90 days prior to academic program completion and no later than 60 days post-completion, and must be submitted to USCIS within 30 days of the DSO issuing the OPT recommendation in SEVIS.

Regulatory rules are actively evolving. Two developments require close monitoring: First, litigation surrounding DHS regulations has created uncertainties regarding application filing windows, making it safest to submit your Form I-765 before graduation rather than relying on grace periods. Second, DHS published a proposed rulemaking on October 8, 2026 considering user fees for OPT adjudications ($70,000 for initial OPT and $30,000 for subsequent filings under regulatory consideration); always verify effective rulemaking status before submitting applications.

8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(E)、(f)(11)(i)(B). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-214/section-214.2；U.S. ICE SEVP, SEVIS Help Hub. F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT). https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/sevis-help-hub/student-records/fm-student-employment/f-1-optional-practical-training-opt；USCIS. Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 Students. https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/optional-practical-training-opt-for-f-1-students；DHS (2026). Optional Practical Training Fees（拟议规则，2026-10-08 公布）. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/08/2026-20660/optional-practical-training-fees