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55-522: For the following statuses, a Form I-129 must always be filed for initial employment as well as for extension of status or change to employment details: For visa statuses associated with free trade agreements, a Form I-129 is needed only if the worker is transitioning status while within the United States. Workers who are outside the United States can directly apply for a visa based on their job offer and other supporting documents. The statuses include: For

110-400: A student visa towards getting practical training to complement their education. Foreign students currently enrolled at a U.S. university can receive full-time or part-time work authorization through Curricular Practical Training . In 2022, there were 171,635 OPT employment authorizations. In 2021, there were 115,651 new non-STEM OPT authorizations, a 105% increase from a decade ago. During

165-509: A 105% increase from a decade ago. In 2019, there were 72,116 new STEM OPT authorizations. Compared to a decade prior, it is an 1108% increase. The Government Accountability Office published a report in 2014 with information on OPT approvals and denials from fiscal year 2008-2013. Note that the counts here are of receipts, approvals, denials or revocations that happened in the fiscal year, regardless of when other activities surrounding that application occurred. For instance, if an application

220-482: A 24-month STEM OPT extension starting on May 10, 2016. In 2019, there were 72,116 new STEM OPT authorizations. Compared to a decade prior, it is an 1108% increase. In the same year, there were 78,000 STEM OPT workers from India and 30,000 workers from China. There also exists a post-completion Practical Training option for students on M-1 visas , but it is significantly more restrictive than that for F-1 students. Unless otherwise specified, Optional Practical Training

275-599: A STEM degree. In addition, foreign students were 18% more likely to have a STEM field degree following the 2008 policy change. In addition, the likelihood that a foreign student completes a STEM master's degree rose 33%. The OPT STEM extension announced in April 2008 was challenged in a lawsuit by the Immigration Reform Law Institute filed on May 31, 2008. The organization filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of various organizations and individuals challenging

330-650: A US federal court gave the green light to a lawsuit challenging the 17-month OPT STEM extension, filed by the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers and three IT workers who claimed that the OPT STEM extension had created unfair low-wage competition that had materially hurt them. On August 12, 2015, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated the 2008 OPT Regulations but stayed

385-527: A designated port of entry with a valid visa, are issued a Form I-94 (those who enter using the VWP are issued a Form I-94W, but they are not eligible to file Form I-539). This form contains an entry for the expiration date. There are two ways the expiration date may be entered: Section 3 of Form I-539 gives the applicant the opportunity to specify a new requested end date (in 1.a.) or either request or indicate that he or she has already been granted D/S. The end date for

440-470: A new employer with the same type of status. When changing status to the dependent of a temporary nonimmigrant worker, Form I-539 must be filed. An example is a change from student status to H-4 status , the status for dependents of people on other H visas. A single Form I-539 can be filed for all the dependents (such as the spouse and children) of the Form I-129 beneficiary. Those who want to transition to

495-404: A person can be used for repeated filings of Form I-539 for extension of stay or change of status. Form I-539 is generally not filed in isolation; it must be supported by two kinds of proofs. For most cases, the filing fee is $ 370, with no additional fees. There are a few exceptions: People who are not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents, when they enter the United States at

550-437: A student or scholar or dependent status (such as F, J, or M) must first get the corresponding authorization from the institution (such as Form I-20 for F status and Form DS-2019 for J status) and then use that to file Form I-539. If transferring to student status using Form I-539, it is necessary to first pay the same SEVIS fee that applicants from outside the United States need to pay in order to apply for their visa. Until

605-565: Is available for download from the USCIS website. The filing address depends on the type of status change or extension that the applicant is requesting. The possible filing addresses include lockbox facilities, service centers, and (in the case of diplomatic statuses) appropriate international bodies. Form I-539 may be filed electronically using the Electronic Information System (ELIS) for some categories. A single ELIS account created by

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660-425: Is not necessary to accomplish this change of status. Thus, for instance, if trying to transition from F status to H-1B status, only Form I-129 need be filed, and not Form I-539. Similarly, Form I-129 needs to be filed when transitioning from one temporary nonimmigrant worker status to another. Since temporary nonimmigrant worker statuses are tied to specific jobs, a new Form I-129 needs to be filed even when changing to

715-406: Is understood to refer to Optional Practical Training for F-1 students. Any F-1 visa international student who graduates from a U.S college or university qualifies for OPT. Additionally they must work either part-time (20 hours a week or more) or full time. A student who has completed more than a year of full-time Curricular Practical Training is not eligible for Optional Practical Training. For

770-535: The COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in unemployment due to the pandemic and associated government lockdowns , the administration of President Donald Trump was reported to be exploring new restrictions on OPT. However, the Trump administration ultimately left out OPT from his executive actions due to White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination Chris Liddell rallying universities against any restrictions on

825-513: The H-4 visa for H visa holders and the O-3 visa for O visa holders. Those already present in the United States who want to transition to dependent status can file Form I-539 for change of status. Whether an individual holds a single-entry or multiple-entry visa, the applicant may need to apply for visas multiple times if traveling outside the United States repeatedly. Each of these visa applications will rely on

880-433: The 2021-2022 school year, the two nations with the highest number of OPT students were India and China. There were 68,188 Indian OPT students and 51,199 Chinese OPT students. According to Pew Research, there were 441,400 OPT approvals from India and 313,500 from China between 2004-2016. The University of Southern California was the largest OPT participant between 2003 and 2017, with 30,720 approvals. On April 2, 2008,

935-539: The Caribbean islands and return in less than 30 days. Instead of the "visa", what gets revalidated is the change of status, and therefore in lieu of the visa the applicant must carry the Form I-797 Approval Notice in addition to all the other supporting documentation. In particular, it does not matter if the applicant has never acquired a visa for the new status, nor does it matter if the previous status for which

990-524: The Department of Homeland Security published a final rule allowing certain F-1 students who receive STEM degrees and who meet other specified requirements to apply for a 24-month extension of their post-completion OPT, giving STEM graduates a total of 36 months of OPT. The 24-month extension replaces the 17-month STEM OPT extension previously available to STEM students (see 73 FR 18944). Eligible students could apply for

1045-601: The Designated School Official at the institution, who acts as the intermediary between the student and the government bureaucracy. All reporting requirements imposed on students are to the DSO rather than directly to USCIS or DHS. In addition, those applying for Optional Practical Training need to first get a new Form I-20 indicating their institution's approval for the OPT, and then get an Employment Authorization Document from

1100-455: The Form I-539 is approved, the person is not officially in student status and cannot start classes. This also applies for people transitioning from F-2 status to F-1 status. The process generally takes 3–6 months, which can be considerably longer than traveling outside the United States and getting a new visa. For those who entered the United States using a B visa , having an annotation on

1155-454: The Form I-94, the applicant is no longer in authorized status. However, removal proceedings are unlikely to be initiated against the applicant and, if they are, then the pending Form I-539 can be used as a mitigating factor against the removal. Moreover, despite not being in a lawful status, the applicant does not accrue "unlawful presence" for purposes of inadmissibility to the United States. Once

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1210-501: The OPT program because of a lack of government oversight. By design, only school officials review student practical training plans. Some have critiqued the OPT program for incentivizing academic institutions to focus on international over American students. The incentive for many foreign students is to obtain work authorization in the United States, which universities take advantage of. Examples of visa mill colleges that used OPT to attract foreign students include Silicon Valley University,

1265-462: The STEM OPT extension, there are additional requirements: In order to apply for Optional Practical Training, a foreign student must reach out to the designated school official (DSO) at the college or university to endorse Form I‑20, Certification of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status. Afterwards, the student must fill out a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. The filing fee for

1320-409: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff announced a 17-month extension to the OPT for students in qualifying STEM fields. To be eligible for the 12-month permit, any degree in any field of studies is valid. For the 17-month OPT extension, a student must have received a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics degree as defined by USCIS. On March 11, 2016,

1375-582: The U.S. talent pipeline, and exacerbating its woeful record on workforce diversity.” Policy scholars and detractors of OPT have noted that Congress never provided F-1 visa foreign students the ability to work besides a three-year pilot program included in the Immigration Act of 1990 that ended. Journalists have pointed out that foreign STEM OPT recipients drive American STEM graduates and future STEM students away from industry through wage deflation and competition for entry-level jobs. Some have criticized

1430-483: The USCIS by filing Form I-765. M students who entered for a fixed duration or course of study, as well as F students who did not get "D/S" as their expiration date (this includes all those who are studying at the K-12 level) do need to file Form I-539 to extend status or transfer to another institution. Any change of status to a status as a temporary nonimmigrant worker must be accomplished by filing Form I-129 . Form I-539

1485-505: The USCIS on March 11, 2016, to be effective May 10, 2016, just in time to address the November 2014 court challenge to the original STEM extension. USCIS expanded the STEM extension to two years. The agency did add a requirement that the employer attest to the non-displacement of U.S. workers, to address concerns raised in the STEM extension lawsuit challenge. In April and May 2020, in response to

1540-408: The United States illegally. Companies such as Tellon Trading and Findream, employing 1,200 OPT graduates total in 2017, were the only companies on paper. Labor experts have noted how the optional practical training is primarily a guestworker program for employers, not an educational one. These researchers say that OPT should be understood and categorized along with other guest worker programs such as

1595-573: The University of Northern Virginia, ITU, Herguan University, and Tri-Valley. Lawmakers have expressed concerns that vulnerabilities in the work authorization program expose the United States to foreign theft of intellectual property, especially from China . There are concerns about fraud with the program. An investigation by NBC News found that fake companies were exploiting the foreign student guestworker program. These companies created fraudulent employment documents so foreign graduates could stay in

1650-507: The applicant did have a visa did not allow for automatic visa revalidation. Optional Practical Training In the United States, Optional Practical Training ( OPT ) is a period during which undergraduate and graduate students with F-1 status who have completed or have been pursuing their degrees for one academic year are permitted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to work for one year on

1705-459: The applicant is in a position to extend stay or transition to the new status (from the start date indicated on the Form I-539). Until receiving the approval, the applicant cannot engage in any activities that require being in the new status. As a general rule, Form I-539 does not extend the validity of existing visas. To the contrary, a change of status accomplished through Form I-539 can invalidate

Form I-129 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1760-409: The application is approved, the approval retroactively makes lawful the time spent by the applicant in the United States after the expiration of the original Form I-94. If the application is denied, the applicant must immediately depart the United States (if it is denied before the expiration date, the applicant has until the expiration date of the Form I-94 to depart). Once the Form I-539 is approved,

1815-422: The approved Form I-539 (whether an actual date or D/S) overrides whatever was there in the Form I-94. It is important to make sure that the Form I-539 application is sent in (and ideally, that it is approved) prior to the expiration date of the Form I-94. The USCIS recommends filing the Form I-539 at least 45 days prior to the expiration date on the Form I-94. Late submissions are likely to result in denial. In

1870-414: The case that the applicant does not have a Form I-94 (either a paper form or an electronic form that he or she can print out), the applicant must contact his or her nearest Deferred Inspection Site managed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection , in order to obtain proof of lawful entry to the United States. The USCIS says that if it has not reached a decision on the Form I-539 by the expiration date of

1925-473: The current status and the status to which the transition is being sought must be non-immigrant visa statuses. The corresponding form used for Adjustment of Status to that of a Lawful Permanent Resident is Form I-485. However, whereas Form I-485 is always needed when adjusting status within the United States to that of Lawful Permanent Resident from a non-immigrant status, Form I-539 is only needed for some kinds of transitions or extensions of stay. For

1980-441: The existing visa. Form I-539 may be used to extend one's stay on the same status as one currently has. This extension of stay does not change the terms of one's entry visa. In particular, it does not change whether the visa was a single-entry visa or a multiple-entry visa, nor does it change the period of validity (i.e., the expiration date) of the visa. When Form I-539 is used to change status, it invalidates any visa obtained that

2035-669: The fiscal and academic year, and between the date of approval and the start date, and the fact that the Open Doors survey does not cover all SEVP-certified institutions, the numbers may not exactly match those from the GAO table. The data below summarizes both total OPT usage and the usage based on country of origin for the top countries of origin. More detailed data is available at the IIE website. The first Bush administration created Optional Practical Training on July 20, 1992. The Justice Department created

2090-527: The following categories, there are restrictions concerning one's ability to request a change in one's nonimmigrant status: For students on F visa (in post-secondary institutions) and their dependents, if the Form I-94 (or any update to it from a previously filed Form I-539) specifies "Duration of Status" (abbreviated "D/S") as the expiration date, then one simply needs to extend the underlying authorization. Explicitly, an updated Form I-20 needs to be issued to

2145-662: The following current statuses, any extension of stay beyond that specified on the Form I-94 requires the filing of Form I-539: For the following categories, it is not possible to change status while in the United States, or extend stay beyond that specified in Form I-94 : The most numerically significant of these ineligible categories is entrants under the Visa Waiver Program . They cannot use Form I-539 except in exceptional circumstances. Thus, even people from VWP-eligible countries who believe they might need to extend their stay or change their status should get B visas . For

2200-441: The form is $ 410. OPT application approval takes three to five months to receive an approval and start date. OPT employment must be in the participant's field of study. OPT jobs can be both unpaid and paid. For STEM OPT, an employer along with the worker must fill out Form I-983. One place to look for statistics on yearly OPT authorizations is Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In 2021, there were 115,651 new OPT authorizations,

2255-442: The government lawsuit "Oracle is not alone in favoring foreign workers who can be paid less because they’re tied to a company by their visa or work permit. Industry’s key argument for cheaper H-1B and OPT guest workers is that there’s a shortage of U.S. talent. That argument completely falls apart in the face of these findings. In fact, the industry is using the visa programs for cheaper guest workers, undercutting U.S. workers, damaging

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2310-442: The intention to file for Adjustment of Status after arriving in the United States. Form I-539 Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status is one of the forms issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services . It is used by people currently in the United States in a non-immigrant status to change the classification for their status and/or extend their stay with their current status. Both

2365-558: The number of international students as part of its Open Doors project, supported from a grant by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. Department of State . The data is collected through surveys of over 3,000 accredited U.S. higher education institutions, and does not rely on any privileged access to government data. Institutions not included in the survey (such as high schools that issue student visas, and non-accredited institutions that are SEVP-certified) may be omitted from

2420-520: The order until February 12, 2016, later extended to May 10, 2016, to allow DHS to provide a transition. The court therefore gave the federal government a deadline and an extension to formulate new rules. The D.C. District explicitly rejected the reasoning of the New Jersey District and Third Circuit in dismissing the earlier 2008 challenge. The proposed rules suggested in the November 20, 2014 memo by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson were finalized by

2475-636: The program without public comment or notice. The 1990 Immigration Act originally created a time-limited employment pilot program for foreign students on visas. The STEM extension was announced in a memo by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on April 2, 2008, published in the Federal Register issue of Tuesday, April 8, 2008. The STEM extension appears to be directly attributable to Congressional testimony by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates , March 12, 2008. This policy changes shaped foreign students' decision to decide and obtain

2530-653: The program. Labor experts have noted that employers like to hire foreign workers on OPT because employers get a discount. Students working with OPT authorization do not pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. For employers, hiring an OPT worker amounts to a 15.3% discount per student compared to an American citizen or permanent resident. Employers receive another discount because these companies do not have to provide health insurance as OPT workers are required to maintain private health insurance. Georgetown University researchers found OPT workers are paid 41.7 percent less than equivalent U.S. workers They found that in general,

2585-453: The same approved Form I-129 that is used as the basis for the worker's current work authorization; those who have already started employment may also need to submit additional proof showing that they have been working for the employer their status is associated with since the start date. Form I-129 is unrelated to Form I-129F, a form used by the fiancé(e)s of citizens and permanent residents to acquire fiancé(e) non-immigrant status, usually with

2640-554: The statistics. Since the 2006–2007 academic year, these surveys have included data on usage of the Optional Practical Training program. Since the Optional Practical Training program duration is a year for most people (though the STEM extension and cap gap allow for longer OPTs under some circumstances), the number of approvals in a given year should roughly match the number of students on Optional Practical Training. However, because of various mismatches such as that between

2695-420: The student by the international office at his or her institution, with a new expiration date. No Form I-539 need be filed. Note that this works only if the new Form I-20 is issued prior to the expiration date of the old Form I-20. Even if transferring to a different educational institution, there is no need to file Form I-539. In general, the responsibility of keeping the student's information up-to-date lies with

2750-523: The student-to-temporary work visa pathway reduced earnings until these foreign students became legal permanent residents. Critics of the Optional Practical Training program allege that the program allows for U.S companies to prefer international students who studied in United States over American college graduates. In 2019, The Department of Labor sued Oracle Corporation favored foreign Asian graduates of U.S. colleges over American graduates. Howard University Professor of Public Policy Ron Hira commented on

2805-515: The validity of the 17-month OPT extension. On August 5, 2008, the lawsuit was rejected by a New Jersey district court judge. A November 20, 2014 memo by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Charles Johnson outlining proposed executive action on immigration endorsed by President Barack Obama included some suggested changes to the OPT program. The proposals were discussed and critiqued in National Law Review . In August 2015,

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2860-409: The visa classifications that require Form I-129, a person outside the United States needs to apply for the corresponding visa. The visa application must include an approved Form I-129 as well as other supporting documents necessary for the visa status. For each of the classifications for which Form I-129 can be filed, there are associated visa classes for dependents (spouses and minor children), such as

2915-484: The visa saying that the entrant is a "Prospective Student" is generally a prerequisite for the Form I-539 application to be accepted. In general, the USCIS does not approve transition to student status with a start date more than 30 days prior to the program start date. Therefore, applications where the applicant's current status expires more than 30 days before the start date of their program are likely to be rejected. Form I-539 can always be submitted by paper. The form

2970-572: Was approved in Fiscal Year 2009 and revoked in Fiscal Year 2010, the revocation would be counted in 2010 rather than 2009. Thus, the number of receipts for a given year need not equal the sum of the number of approvals and denials for that year. The approval rate for OPT petitions between 2008 and 2013 was 96%. Another place to find statistics on optional practical training is from the Institute of International Education . The organization maintains data on

3025-447: Was associated with the applicant's previous status. Thus, whenever the applicant next travels outside the United States, the applicant is required to obtain a new visa to re-enter the United States. If the applicant's new status is a category eligible for automatic visa revalidation , then, after successfully transitioning to the new status, he or she may use automatic visa revalidation to travel to Mexico, Canada, or (for some statuses)

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