a relative of mine got their OPD denied because they made a mistake in choosing their OPD start date a friend's sister got her opt denied because they filed their OPD 30 days after they received their op I20 if you're a student in the US or if you are someone who's planning to study in the US then you've probably heard about op but with all things like US immigration there are a lot of rules complexities regulations that make it extremely challenging for students to navigate but it's okr me Huna hi I'm prya from it's and welcome back to our Channel if you're new today it's okr is a Content platform for South Asian immigrants and we aim to educate entertain and Empower them in today's video I am going to explain what is opt how to apply for opt various timelines related to OPD how to select the start date for your OPD the 90-day unemployment period common reasons for op rejection by USCIS what to do if your opt is rejected and before I begin please subscribe to our channel so that you get notified about everywhere we post so what is opt in simple terms opt or optional practical training is nothing but a work permit that allows International students to live and work in the US for 12 months after their graduation or for an additional 24 months if they are stem graduates how to apply for an OPD to apply for your OPD first you need to make sure you get a recommendation from your school's designated School official or your DS they need to endorse your I20 and make a note in the student and exchange visitor system or the CS in most cases the closer you are to your graduation your DSO will reach out to you and ask if you will be applying for an OPD post that you need to apply for your opt or work permit by filing for your i765 with the USCIS be sure to pay the necessary fee and provide the required supporting documentation as outlined in the forms on approval you will receive an EAD or your employment authorization document card that looks something like this please note that you cannot start working before you have your Eed card now let's discuss the most important part of this video all the timelines related to your op the first timeline that we will discuss is when to apply for your op according to USCIS you can apply for your op 90 days before your graduation date or 60 days after your graduation date so for example suppose you're graduating on May 13th you can apply for your OPD 90 days before that that is after February 13th or 60 days after your graduation that is until July 13th got it but here is a catch remember that one of the steps to apply for your OPD is to get an I20 from your school's DSO so you need to apply for your OPD within 30 days of receiving your I20 therefore it's extremely important and I cannot stress on this enough that you need to decide when you want to get your I20 from that DSO and always apply for your op within 30 days of receiving it if you don't do that your OPD will be rejected now that we have discussed this let's discuss how to select your start date for the op as per USCIS the op start date needs to be within 60 days of your graduation so for example if you are graduating on May 13th you can select your opt start date anytime between May 14th to July 13th since you only get a year of OPD the natural inclination of most people is to choose a later start day to fully utilize their OPD but it's also important to understand that in the meantime if you get a job the employer may not want to wait for a long time for you to join in my opinion a good start date would be anytime between 30 to 45 days after your graduation most employers are willing to wait at least a month or a month and a half after your graduation for you to join some may wait for the 60-day period but why take a chance especially in this current job market now let's discuss the unemployment period during your op as per USCIS during your one-year op you can only acove 90 days of unemployment so for example if your opt starts June 28th and is valid till June 27th next year you can only remain unemployed for a total of 90 days during this 12-month period let's take another example suppose your OPD start date is June 282 24 and you manage to get a job and join it by July 28 2024 so far you have aced 30 days of unemployment things go well for the rest of the year but your company decides to do some cost cutting and on January 28th 2025 you're unfortunately laid off since you've already aced 30 days of unemployment earlier you now only have 60 days of unemployment left to find a new job if you are on stem op then you get an additional 60 days during your stem extension bringing that total to 150 days now there are ways to stop this clock but that would require an entire video by itself if you want me to create that video please leave that in comments and if you like this video so far please hit that like And subscribe button now let's discuss common reasons for opt rejection by USCIS you applied for OPD 30 days after receiving your op I20 the USCIS calls it the 30-day rule many people aren't aware of this Rule and they end up filing it late and get their opts rejected CPT was used full-time for 12 months if you used your full-time CPT for 12 months you will no longer be eligible to apply for your opt after graduation the i765 application form and supporting materials do not meet the requirements the most common i765 errors include not using the latest version of the form i765 omissions no signature correct content in the wrong box wrong opt code incorrect writing format of the check or money order that is not able to be cached insufficient supporting materials the submitted photos do not need the specifications the passport is valid for less than 6 months DSL got your I20 wrong as mentioned earlier the internal application of the school is the first step in the process in this step the school's DSO will give you an opt recommendation I20 and the updated I20 status in the system since more students apply for op at the end of their program there may be a situation where many students submit their OPD applications simultaneously at this time the DSO may have human errors due to the heavy workload if you find a problem with your I20 reach out to your school's DSO on time under normal circumstances you will first find out that your op application has been rejected on the online system then USCIS will send a paper refusal letter to your registered address within 2 weeks therefore it's extremely important to follow all the procedures of applying your op in a timely manner I hope this video was helpful and it gave you a lot of clarity related to your OPD application good luck with everything please don't forget to like And subscribe this video and if you watch our videos please leave a comment we would love to hear from you share this video with other International students as well and if things aren't going your way remember it's okay and it will event ually turn around this is priia signing off have a wonderful day