Optional Practical Training

A period of authorized employment permitted to a foreign national who has completed a degree program in the U.S. on an F-1 Student nonimmigrant visa following graduation from the program. Optional Practical Training requires that the F-1 foreign national apply for and obtain an Employment Authorization Document, and is not automatic. The period of authorized employment is 12 months. However, graduates in Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ("STEM") fields may extend this period for an additional 17 months, for a total of 29 months.