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How many OPT days do you have left?
Post-completion OPT allows 90 days without a job, and STEM OPT 150 in total. Enter your start date to see what's left and your last day.
Your days left
90
Enter the start date on your OPT card to count what you have left.
This is a count, not legal advice. Your DSO's record in SEVIS is the one that counts; ask them about your own case.
The rule, in plain words.
On post-completion OPT you can spend at most 90 days without a job. The count starts on the start date on your EAD card, not on your graduation day, and every calendar day without work that counts uses one, weekends included. The days add up across your whole OPT; they don't reset when you change jobs.
A job counts when it relates to your degree and runs at least 20 hours a week. You report it within 10 days of starting, through the SEVP Portal or your DSO.
The STEM OPT extension adds 24 months of work and 60 more days, for 150 in total across both periods. On STEM OPT the job must be paid and the employer must use E-Verify and sign a training plan with you, Form I-983. Neither OPT nor STEM OPT needs the employer to sponsor a visa.
Time outside the US during OPT counts as unemployment too, unless your employer approved it or you were traveling for the job. While an OPT application is pending and you have no valid card yet, no days are counted.
What changed in 2026
Since 15 September 2026, F-1 students are admitted until a fixed date instead of for “duration of status”, so OPT now generally needs an extension of stay from USCIS too, and the time to leave after OPT ends is 30 days, not 60. Students who were already here have a transition rule. The 90 and 150 day limits did not change. A rule proposed on 8 October 2026 would charge schools a fee for each OPT recommendation; it is not in effect.
Sources: USCIS: Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 students; Study in the States (SEVP): the unemployment counter; Study in the States (SEVP): F-1 OPT; Study in the States (SEVP): STEM OPT extension overview; SEVP policy guidance on OPT (2010), on what counts as employment; 8 CFR 214.2(f), the regulation; SEVP: the fixed admission period rule, quick facts (in effect 15 September 2026); Proposed OPT fees on schools (Federal Register, 8 October 2026).
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Questions, answered.
90 days on post-completion OPT. If you move onto the STEM OPT extension you get 60 more, for 150 in total across both.
On the start date printed on your EAD card, the day your OPT begins. It does not start at graduation, and it does not start before the card is valid.
Yes. Every calendar day without a job that counts is a day of unemployment, weekends and holidays included. Days inside a job that counts are not.
Work related to your degree for at least 20 hours a week. On post-completion OPT, SEVP's guidance says that can include more than one employer, contract work, self-employment, or unpaid work where labor law allows it. On STEM OPT it must be paid, with an employer that uses E-Verify and signs a Form I-983 training plan with you.
Going over the limit is a violation of your F-1 status, and SEVP can end your record; there is no grace period after it. Before you reach it, the options SEVP names include starting a new program, transferring schools or filing to change status. Talk to your school's DSO before you get close.
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