SEVP Portal
The SEVP Portal is an important tool that lets F-1 students on post-completion optional practical training (OPT) meet their legal reporting requirements. Please visit the Create an Account page for specific instructions.
The SEVP Portal allows international students the ability to report address, telephone and employer information to SEVP without relying upon their designated school official (DSO) to update their information.
SEVP will email prospective SEVP Portal users important account creation information. However, the only emails the government will send students related to the portal are to create their SEVP Portal account or to reset their password.
- The sender of the email will be do-not-reply.SEVP@ice.dhs.gov.
- There is no cost associated with creating an account or accessing the portal.
- You must use your valid ASU email address.
- SEVP Portal cannot be forwarded to a non-ASU email address.
If you are having trouble receiving emails from the SEVP Portal, please check your My ASU profile tab to ensure your ASU email is not set up to forward.
For more information, please visit the SEVP Portal Student User Guide web page.
While on the 24-month STEM OPT Extension, you must continue to maintain F-1 status by doing the following:
Check My ASU account and ASU email regularly for immigration updates.
The approval of your STEM OPT Extension will increase your allowable unemployment days by 60. This should be added to any unused unemployment days from your Post-OPT period. Do not exceed your remaining unemployment days. Periods of unemployment occur when students have a valid EAD card but are not employed.
Upload a copy of your EAD card by submitting the STEM OPT EAD Upload eForm through the ISSC eForm Portal.
Report demographic and address information changes through the Optional Practical Training link in your My ASU account.
Review the accuracy of your name and the dates on the EAD Card and report any discrepancies to the ISSC immediately by email to issc.employment@asu.edu.
You must keep all original I-20s and all your prior immigration documents indefinitely, for possible use in the future. The ISSC does not retain students' original I-20s.
SEVP will send you reminders every 6 months to report your STEM participation to your DSO. Participation is reported through the ISSC eForm portal. You will find the eForms associated with reporting in F-1 Practical Training > 5. STEM OPT Extension: Reporting. You do not need to email or call the ISSC to report your participation.
Complete two self-evaluations during the course of your 24-Month OPT STEM Extension period, which are on page 5 of the Form I-983. The first report will be submitted at 12 months of the STEM OPT start date and a second at the end of the STEM OPT period through the ISSC eForm Portal. Evaluations must be signed by the student and their immediate supervisor, and then submitted to ISSC by eForm. Submit your document through the OPT STEM 12-Month Evaluation & Reporting eForm or the OPT STEM 24-Month Evaluation / Final Evaluation Form through the ISSC eForm Portal.
Updating/Changing Employers while on STEM
You must update the ISSC with any changes to your employment within 10 days of the change. Submit form I-983 for the new STEM employer along with the bottom half of page 5 final evaluation completed by your former employer.
- Go to the MyISSC eForm Portal.
- Click on F-1 Practical Training on the left side bar.
- Click on 5. STEM OPT Extension: Reporting.
- Submit the STEM OPT Employment Update eForm.
Your SEVIS record will be updated to reflect the reported changes and an updated I-20 will be issued.
Employment Restrictions
Types of employment not allowed:
- Volunteer/Unpaid work.
- Self-Employment.
- Part-time employment. Students must work 20 hours or more per week.
Guidance on Staffing/Consulting or Temp Agencies
Staffing and temporary agencies and consulting firms may seek to employ students under the STEM OPT program, but only
- if they will be the entity that provides the practical training experience to the student and they have and maintain a bona fide employer-employee relationship with the student.
STEM OPT participants may engage in a training experience that takes place at a site other than the employer’s principal place of business as long as all of the training obligations are met, including that the employer has and maintains a bona fide employer-employee relationship with the student. As noted in the 2016 STEM OPT rule, certain types of arrangements, including multiple employer arrangements, sole proprietorships, employment through ‘‘temp’’ agencies, employment through consulting firm arrangements that provide labor for hire, and other similar relationships may not be able to demonstrate a bona fide employer-employee relationship and, therefore, may not meet the requirements of the STEM OPT extension. See 2016 STEM OPT Final Rule (p. 13079).
As part of the STEM OPT extension, employers must complete the appropriate parts of Form I-983, Training Plan for STEM OPT Students. In this form, employers attest that:
- They have enough resources and trained personnel available to appropriately train the student;
- The student will not replace a full- or part-time, temporary or permanent U.S. worker; and
- Working for them will help the student attain their training objectives.
DHS will review on a case-by-case basis whether the student will be a bona fide employee of the employer signing the Training Plan, and verify that:
- the employer that signs the Training Plan is the same entity that employs the student and provides the practical training experience.
For more information, please refer to the DHS STEM OPT Hub.
STEM OPT students are permitted to use staffing/placement agencies to find a training opportunity. However:
- All STEM OPT regulatory requirements must be maintained, and
- The staffing/placement agency cannot complete and sign the Form I-983 as an employer, unless:
- The staffing/placement agency is an E-verified employer of the student, and
- The staffing/placement agency provides and oversees the training.
SEVP provided additional context related to staffing agencies on the Study in the States website here (Page 4, Question 7)
Read Federal Register for more information on the new ruling
Multiple employers:
A student may have multiple STEM OPT employers, as long as all conditions of the STEM OPT extension are met, including proper submission of the Forms I-983 for each training opportunity, the E-Verify requirement for employers and the stipulation that the student works no less than 20 hours per week for each employer.
Unemployment
The rule states that during OPT, F-1 status is dependent upon employment. Students who are granted a 24-month extension are given an additional 60 days of unemployment for a total of 150 days over their entire Post-OPT and STEM periods. During any initial 12-month period of Post-OPT, no student may be unemployed for more than 90 days, and 150 days total during the STEM extension period. Unemployment dates are cumulative.
From the beginning of the authorization date listed on your EAD card, a student should be working or actively seeking employment. If you decide to quit your job, or if you do not find a job, keep the unemployment rules in mind.
- Unemployment starts accruing from your approved OPT/EAD start date (this is the date listed on your EAD card) but you are not working.
- If you accumulate 150 days or more of unemployment, you are in violation of your F-1 status. You are expected to leave the U.S., transfer to another school or change your visa status before the 150th day.
- If you have a job offer that will start after your 150 days of unemployment, we do not suggest taking it since you will be accumulating unlawful presence. A student may be denied future immigration benefits that rely on the student’s valid F-1 status if DHS determines that the student exceeded the limitations on unemployment.
- Approved vacation from a job does not count as "unemployment" if you are still considered an employee there.
- Jobs that are less than 20 hours per week will count towards the 150-day unemployment limit.
60-Day Grace Period After the 24-month STEM OPT
You are allowed a 60-day grace period following your 24-month STEM OPT expiration date to leave the U.S., change your status, transfer your F-1 to a new school, or pursue a new degree program at ASU.
Early Completion of the 24-month STEM OPT and Leaving the U.S., or Change of Status
If you left the United States, submit the F-1 Demographic Update eForm through the ISSC eForm Portal with proof of leaving the US such as; the travel history page of your I-94, or the air tickets. We will then complete your records. This update will invalidate your STEM OPT employment authorization, and your I-20 and EAD card will no longer be valid.
If you change your visa status before your STEM OPT expiration date, submit the F-1 Demographic Update eForm through the ISSC eForm Portal and upload form I-797A Approval Notice or other evidence you have received a new visa status.
