Hiring F-1 Graduates on OPT and STEM OPT: What Employers Sign Up For

An employer can hire an F-1 graduate on Optional Practical Training (OPT) without filing anything with USCIS: the student holds the work permit, and your obligations are the normal I-9 and a job that is directly related to the student’s degree. The picture changes with the 24-month STEM OPT extension. To keep a STEM graduate for those extra two years, your company must be enrolled in E-Verify, sign a Form I-983 training plan, pay and treat the student like similarly situated U.S. workers, report a termination or departure to the school within five business days, and accept that the Department of Homeland Security may visit your worksite. Most employers use OPT and STEM OPT as the bridge to an H-1B, and the cap-gap rule protects that bridge between the lottery and the October 1 start. A proposed rule published on October 8, 2026 would add a $70,000 fee for a student’s first OPT, paid by the school. It is not law yet, but it is the reason to plan your 2027 campus hiring now.

OPT in plain terms: what the student brings to the job

OPT is temporary work authorization that belongs to the student, not to your company. After finishing a degree, an F-1 student can receive up to 12 months of practical training, and becomes eligible for another 12 months at each higher degree level. The school’s Designated School Official (DSO) recommends the student in SEVIS, and the student then files Form I-765 with USCIS. Under the current rule, the application for post-completion OPT can be filed up to 90 days before the program end date and no later than 30 days after it, and within 30 days of the DSO’s recommendation.

Three points matter to an employer. First, the student may not start work before the start date on the Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766), so an offer letter should be conditional on the card. Second, the work must be directly related to the student’s major area of study; a computer science graduate in a software role is easy, the same graduate in a sales role is not. Third, during post-completion OPT the student’s F-1 status depends on being employed: no more than 90 days of unemployment in total, so a late start date or a gap between jobs eats into the student’s allowance.

The STEM extension: what your company signs

The 24-month extension is where the employer becomes a party. The student cannot be recommended by the school until your company has signed Form I-983, and the signature carries attestations that DHS can check. Before agreeing to sponsor a STEM extension, make sure your company can keep each of these promises for the full two years:

• E-Verify and an EIN. The employer must be enrolled in E-Verify and remain a participant in good standing, and must have an employer identification number used for tax purposes. If you are not enrolled today, enrollment comes first; the student’s extension cannot be recommended without your E-Verify company number.
• A real training plan. Form I-983 must name the goals of the training, the specific skills the student will learn, how progress is evaluated, and who supervises. It must also explain how the work relates directly to the student’s STEM degree. You may rely on the training and review programs you already run for U.S. staff.
• Equal terms. Duties, hours, and pay must be commensurate with those of your similarly situated U.S. workers in the same area of employment. The student discloses the pay on the form, so a below-market salary is on paper for DHS to see. Even a company with no comparable U.S. employee must attest that the terms match the local market for similar workers.
• At least 20 hours a week. A student may not train for fewer than 20 hours a week, apart from leave that your normal policies give U.S. staff.
• No displacement. You attest that the student will not replace a full- or part-time, temporary or permanent U.S. worker, and that you have the resources and people to train the student at the worksite listed on the form.
• Evaluations. The student completes a self-evaluation within 12 months of the extension start date and a final one at the end; an appropriate person at your company signs both.

Changes during the extension, and DHS site visits

A STEM OPT training plan is not a form you sign once and forget. When anything material changes, the student and your company must sign a modified Form I-983 and send it to the school at the earliest opportunity. The regulation gives examples: a new EIN after a corporate restructuring, a pay cut that is not tied to fewer hours, a significant drop in weekly hours, and any drop below 20 hours. A reorganization, an acquisition, or a move to another team can all trigger an update, so involve whoever handles immigration before the change takes effect, not after.

DHS may also visit any STEM OPT employer to confirm that the company can provide the structured training it described. It gives 48 hours’ notice, unless the visit follows a complaint or other evidence of noncompliance. In practice, the visit checks that the student works where the form says, on what the form says, under the supervisor the form names, and for the pay the form states. A company whose I-983 matches daily reality has little to worry about; the risk is a plan written once by the student and never read again. The same discipline applies to your Form I-9 records, which we cover in our guide to ICE I-9 inspections.

Students carry their own duties too. A STEM OPT student must report a change of employer name or address, or a loss of employment, to the school within 10 days, confirm their details every six months, and submit a new I-983 within 10 days of starting with a new employer. If your new hire is coming from another company mid-extension, the new training plan is part of onboarding.

From OPT to H-1B: the cap-gap bridge

For most employers, OPT is the first stage of a longer plan: hire the graduate, register them in the H-1B lottery in March, and file the petition after selection. The problem is timing. A cap-subject H-1B cannot start before October 1, and a student’s OPT may end in the spring or summer. The cap-gap rule closes that gap. When your company timely files a cap-subject H-1B petition requesting a change of status, with a start date in the fiscal year, the student’s F-1 status and OPT work authorization are automatically extended until April 1 of that fiscal year, or until the petition’s start date, whichever comes first. Before a 2024 rule, the extension ran only to October 1.

The extension ends if the petition is rejected, denied, revoked, or withdrawn, so withdrawing a petition for an employee you still want to keep can end their right to work. The student must also have kept their F-1 status. A STEM graduate with an extension gets up to three years in total, which means up to three lottery attempts before work authorization runs out. Registration cost $215 per beneficiary for the FY 2027 season, and selection is now weighted by the wage level you offer; our H-1B cap registration guide explains how that affects which graduates are selected, and sponsoring your first H-1B employee covers what the petition commits you to.

What changed in 2026, and what is only proposed

In force: a fixed period of admission for F-1 students. A final rule published on July 17, 2026 (91 FR 44976), effective September 15, 2026, replaced “duration of status” for F-1 students with an admission for a fixed period. For post-completion OPT, the regulation now requires the student to apply for work authorization and also either apply to USCIS for an extension of stay or be readmitted by CBP after travel abroad. A student may not work on post-completion OPT until the work authorization is granted. For employers, this adds one item to onboarding: check that the employee’s I-94 date and the work permit dates line up, and ask about the extension of stay if they do not.

Proposed only: OPT fees. On October 8, 2026, DHS proposed new fees (91 FR 64566): $70,000 the first time a student is recommended for any type of OPT, and $30,000 for each later OPT recommendation. Under the proposal, the school pays before its DSO can enter the recommendation in SEVIS, and USCIS would not grant the work permit until the fee is paid. The fee is not tied to a specific employer, and schools could ask for a refund case by case if the student never receives the work permit. The proposal would take effect 60 days after a final rule is published and would apply only to OPT recommendations dated on or after that day. DHS’s own analysis describes the total for a STEM graduate who uses both OPT and the extension as $100,000. Public comments close on November 9, 2026.

Nothing in the proposal changes what your company owes today. But if it becomes final in something like its current form, schools may stop recommending some students for OPT, and the pool of graduates who can start work on an OPT card will shrink. Employers who rely on campus hiring should ask candidates early whether they are already on OPT, whether they will be eligible for the STEM extension, and whether a direct H-1B or another visa makes more sense for them.

A checklist for HR before you make the offer

• Confirm the role is directly related to the candidate’s degree, in writing, in terms a DSO would recognize.
• Make the start date conditional on the EAD start date; never let a student begin early, even for unpaid onboarding.
• For a STEM graduate, confirm the degree is on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List and that your company is enrolled in E-Verify.
• Price the role against your U.S. staff in the same position, and write down how you set the pay.
• Name a supervisor who will own the I-983 goals, the evaluations, and the five-business-day reporting.
• Put the H-1B registration on the calendar for the March after hire, and decide early whether you will file a green card later.
• Diary the EAD end date for I-9 reverification, and diary the cap-gap end date if a petition is filed.

How Atlas Immigration Law helps

We help employers turn student hires into long-term employees: checking each role against the degree, reviewing the Form I-983 before your company signs it, setting up the reporting so nothing is missed when someone leaves, and planning the H-1B registration and petition so the cap-gap protects the employee. Every engagement runs on a flat fee agreed in writing and billed at milestones, with a dedicated paralegal reachable by call, email, or text, and attorney Jordan Weinberg reviewing every filing. Employers follow each case in the Atlas Vision client portal. Atlas is based in Dallas and works with employers in all 50 states; see our H-1B services, I-9 compliance practice, and employer sponsorship, or request a free consultation.

This guide is part of our business immigration services — the service page covers eligibility, fees, and how we handle these cases.

Jordan S. Weinberg, Esq.

Founder & Managing Attorney, Atlas Immigration Law

Member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the Dallas Bar Association. Licensed to practice in Texas; fluent in English and Spanish.

Legally reviewed by a licensed immigration attorney

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law and procedures change, and how they apply depends on your specific facts — consult a licensed immigration attorney about your situation.