SEVP Policy Guidance
Practical
Training-Determining
a Direct Relationship Between Employment and a Student's
Major Area
of
Study
to a student's area
of
study. Other mandatory information related to employment includes
employer name, start date, whether the employment is full-time or part-time, and employer
address. Also, SEVIS now tracks unemployment days for individuals participating in practical
training to help ensure that students do not exceed the applicable unemployment limits, which is
90 days for OPT and 150 days for STEM OPT.
Another enhancement is the creation
of
the SEVP Portal, which launched on March 23, 2018.
The Portal provides students with a way to directly report, through a SEVIS-linked database,
certain required information, including information about employment. The Portal includes a text
field, titled
"Relation to Field o/Study: Explain how this
job
relates to the degree that qualified
you/or
this OPT," so students can explain how their employment relates to their major area
of
study.
Policy:
One eligibility requirement for practical training is that the practical training opportunity be
"directly related to the student's major area
of
study" (8 CFR 214.2(/)(J0)(ii)(A)). Similarly, for
the STEM OPT extension, the "practical training opportunity
...
must be directly related to the
degree that qualifies the student for such extension"
(8 CFR 214.2(/)(J0)(ii)(C)(4)). "When a
DSO recommends a student for OPT, the school assumes the added responsibility for
maintaining the SEVIS record
of
that student for the entire period
of
authorized OPT
...
" and
must update "the student's record to reflect these reported changes for the duration
of
time that
training is authorized"
(8 CFR 214.2(/)(J l)(ii) and (/)(12)(i)). Prior to making a
recommendation, the DSO at the student's educational institution must ensure that the student is
eligible for the type and period
of
OPT and that the student is aware
of
their responsibility for
maintaining status while on OPT
(8 CFR 214.2(/)(l l)(ii)(A)). The requirement that practical
training be directly related to a student's major area
of
study is longstanding and meant to ensure
that the employment experience supplements the individual's educational pursuits.
SEVP recognizes that initiating the recommendation and approval process for OPT without
requiring a
job
is a significant complication in determining whether there is a direct relation
between an intended
job
and a student's course
of
study. However, nonimmigrant students only
have a limited time to obtain both the DSO recommendation and the EAD from USCIS before
finding a job.
If
students had to obtain a
job
first and then apply for a recommendation and
authorization, their ability to start working would be far less certain because an employer would
have to wait an unspecified period
of
time before the student could start and ultimately the
student's request for authorization could be denied, wasting both the employer's and student's
time. Additionally, it would increase the likelihood that students might start working prior to
obtaining proper authorization and therefore lose their immigration status because
of
unauthorized employment. For these reasons, the regulations, except those pertaining to STEM
OPT, permit students to initiate the practical training process and then find a job.
Another potential complexity with practical training is that the relationship between an
employment opportunity and a student's major area
of
study may not be immediately
discemable. For example, when a student who graduates with a degree in music lists his/her
employer as a restaurant. There may not appear to be a direct relationship with the degree, but
2