Public F-1 practical training windows
- OPT at one degree levelUp to 12 months
- STEM OPT extension24 months
- File after the school recommendationWithin 30 days
- Earliest post-completion filing90 days before the program end
- Latest post-completion filing60 days after the program end
See the data
| Window | Figure |
|---|---|
| OPT at one degree level | Up to 12 months |
| STEM OPT extension | 24 months |
| File after the school recommendation | Within 30 days |
| Earliest post-completion filing | 90 days before the program end |
| Latest post-completion filing | 60 days after the program end |
This is not legal advice. Work rules depend on your status, your school, and the dates on your forms. The pages below are the public explanations from USCIS and from Study in the States. Your designated school official is the person who can look at your record. A blog post cannot.
The point of reading those pages before you apply is narrower. A posting can sound open and still be a role you are not allowed to start. Knowing the difference saves the application hour and keeps you from accepting work you cannot legally begin.
What the public pages say about F-1 work
USCIS says F-1 students may not work off campus during the first academic year. On-campus employment can be allowed, with conditions the school sets. After that first year, USCIS lists three kinds of off-campus employment: curricular practical training (CPT), optional practical training (OPT) before or after you finish the program, and a STEM OPT extension for eligible students. Off-campus training has to relate to the program of study and has to be authorized before you start. USCIS also says that, in general, you need permission from the Department of Homeland Security before you can apply for a Social Security number.
Study in the States, updated August 24, 2026, describes CPT as training that is an integral part of the curriculum, such as a required internship or practicum offered through the school. You request it from your designated school official. If you are eligible, the official authorizes a specific employer in SEVIS and gives you a Form I-20 endorsed for CPT. You do not file Form I-765 for CPT. You may start on or after the CPT start date printed on that I-20, and you have to keep your student status while you work. CPT can be part time or full time. Full time means more than 20 hours a week.
OPT is different. USCIS describes it as temporary employment directly related to the major. You can be authorized for up to 12 months of OPT at a degree level, and time you use before you finish is deducted from the time you can use after you finish. Pre-completion OPT is limited to 20 hours or less a week while school is in session, and it can be full time when school is not in session. Post-completion OPT must be at least 20 hours a week. You cannot start until USCIS approves Form I-765 and you have the employment authorization document in hand, with the start date arrived.
The application order matters. Study in the States says you ask the designated school official first. If you are eligible, they recommend OPT in SEVIS and give you an endorsed Form I-20. You sign that form, then you file Form I-765 with the fee and the documents the form instructions list. For post-completion OPT you generally file within 30 days of the official’s recommendation, no earlier than 90 days before you finish the program, and no later than 60 days after you finish. Those windows are easy to miss if you wait for a job offer to start the paperwork. The recommendation and the program end date are the clock.
A STEM OPT extension is a separate 24-month period for a degree on the STEM list, with an employer that uses E-Verify, after an initial post-completion OPT grant based on that degree. It has its own filing window and a training plan, Form I-983, that you and the employer complete. If you are not in a listed field, or the employer is not in E-Verify, the extension is not available. Do not plan a third year of work on a guess. Read the STEM OPT page USCIS links from the OPT page, and ask your official.
How to read a posting
Look for a sentence about work authorization. Some postings say you must already be authorized to work without the employer sponsoring a visa now or later. Some say they will consider students who need CPT or OPT. Some say nothing. When a posting says nothing about authorization, you still have to know which authorization you would use if they offered you the job.
Match the dates. If the internship is this summer and you have not finished a full academic year, USCIS’s first-year off-campus rule is the first question for an F-1 student. If the internship is for credit and your department has a CPT course, the path may be CPT, which still needs the official’s authorization for that employer before you start. If the role is after graduation, the path is usually post-completion OPT, which you should discuss with the official months before the program end date, because of the 90-day and 30-day timing.
Write the constraint in your own notes in plain words: “I can work on campus now,” or “I can do CPT for a credit internship after my official authorizes this employer,” or “I can work after graduation only with an OPT card.” Take that sentence to the international office if you are unsure. Do not take a blog’s sentence as the answer.
If a posting asks you to upload a visa stamp, a passport, or an immigration document as part of a casual application, pause. You can ask the employer what they actually need at the application stage. You do not have to send a stack of identity documents to a web form you just found.
What to ask your school
Ask which office authorizes CPT and how many business days it takes. Ask whether a one-credit internship course is enough for the department to call the training integral. Ask when students in your program usually request the OPT recommendation relative to the program end date. Ask what happens if you use full-time CPT for a year, because USCIS notes that a year or more of full-time CPT can affect OPT eligibility. Write the answers down with the date and the name of the office. Rules you heard from a friend in another major are a different curriculum.
Sort the postings into three piles: I can do this on campus now, I could do this with CPT or OPT if the dates and the official line up, and I should not apply because the posting requires authorization I will not have. The third pile is a gift. It gives the hour back.
Example
Example. You are an F-1 student in your second year. A summer research internship is paid, off campus, and not part of a course. Your notes say you do not have OPT yet and the department has no CPT course for this project. You do not apply. A campus lab is hiring a student assistant for the same summer, paid through the school. You apply for that, and you ask the international office to confirm that this particular campus job fits on-campus rules before you accept. A full-time role for after graduation goes on a list labeled “OPT, talk to the office in the fall before I finish,” not on this month’s application list.
How Flightpath helps
Flightpath asks work-eligibility questions from dropdowns when your field has rules. A role you are not eligible for is labeled, and it is never ranked above a role you are eligible for. Those answers stay on your account. They are not sent to a model. Ranking is ordinary code. Flightpath does not collect visa documents, a passport, an A-number, or a country of citizenship. The guidance page has OPT and CPT links and sample H-1B rows. They are information. This is not legal advice. You still approve anything before it is sent, and you still need your designated school official for a decision about your own record.