Pre-completion OPT and 17 months extension

S

sillysharan

New Member
Hi

I have completed my 2 semesters of CPT and now I am planning to use Pre-completion OPT(20 hrs per week) to work next semester. I am aware that as I will work 4 months of part-time in Pre-opt, 2 months will be reduced from the standard 12 months OPT for me. I will have 10 months of OPT after graduation.

So these are the questions troubling me for a long time:

* Am I eligible for 17 months of OPT extension if I apply for that before my 10 months of OPT gets expired?(I am from STEM degree and my employer is E-Verified). There is a rumor that if i use Pre-Completion Opt, I cannot apply for 17 months opt extension.

* I know that I should get a job within first 3 months of regular OPT to be eligible for this 17 months extension. As I would have used 2 months of opt even before graduation, will I have only 1 month to get a job?

* Is there any other problem in using Pre-Completion OPT?

Please help me..

Thanks

Sharan
 
Read my answers below.
sillysharan said:
Hi

I have completed my 2 semesters of CPT and now I am planning to use Pre-completion OPT(20 hrs per week) to work next semester. I am aware that as I will work 4 months of part-time in Pre-opt, 2 months will be reduced from the standard 12 months OPT for me. I will have 10 months of OPT after graduation.

So these are the questions troubling me for a long time:

* Am I eligible for 17 months of OPT extension if I apply for that before my 10 months of OPT gets expired?(I am from STEM degree and my employer is E-Verified). There is a rumor that if i use Pre-Completion Opt, I cannot apply for 17 months opt extension.
I think you should be eligible, but you can always check with your school

* I know that I should get a job within first 3 months of regular OPT to be eligible for this 17 months extension. As I would have used 2 months of opt even before graduation, will I have only 1 month to get a job?
It is not about getting a job in 3 months, but you can be unemployed not more than 3 months. As the part-time pre-completion is not unemployment time, it will not count against the 3 months.

* Is there any other problem in using Pre-Completion OPT?

Please help me..

Thanks

Sharan
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