In a press release issued Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it has extended the list of approved degree programs that qualify for the STEM optional practical training extension. STEM refers to designated degrees in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math, which qualify graduates for an extra 17 months of OPT [...]

These Questions & Answers address the automatic extension of F-1 student status in the United States for certain students with pending or approved H-1B petitions (indicating a request for change of status from F-1 to H-1B) for an employment start date of Oct. 1, 2010 under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 H-1B cap.

April 2008 is turning out to be a land mark month for student visa program in US. First, the Department of Homeland Security came up with an Interim Rule on OPTs for F1 Students which, among other thing, made the transition from student to employee status much easier now. Now, barely two weeks after that [...]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is extending the period of Optional Practical Training (OPT) by 17 months for qualified F-1 non-immigrant students. That means the OPT period will now be 29 months instead of 12. Who are eligible for extension? The DHS interim rule makes this extension available to only F-1 students with a [...]