For international students on an F-1 visa in the United States, the STEM OPT extension program provides an opportunity to gain valuable work experience after graduation while extending their stay in the US for a chance of an H-1B lottery win.
Students in the following fields will be able to obtain STEM OPT extensions for 24 months:
The following settlement was reached in Li v. USCIS in favor of the OPT and STEM OPT applicant students suffering from delays and rejections:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today new policy guidance that eliminates the need for individuals who have applied for a change of status (COS) to F-1 student to apply to change or extend their nonimmigrant status while their initial F-1 COS application is pending.
This article was submitted to and published in The Economic Times.
Link to Rajiv's Author Page in The Economic Times.