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Dear International Students, Please be advised that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is taking an unusually long time to processes Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for OPT. At this time, the USCIS website reports that they are processing applications received October 1, 2017. This means it could take around 4-5 months (or longer) for your OPT application to be processed by the government. USCIS processes applications in the order that they are received. There are only very limited occasions when they will expedite<https://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria> an application, and ISSS may not assist with expedite requests. The expedite criteria are very strict; having an offer of employment is not considered acceptable by USCIS to expedite an application. In the past, USCIS has allowed ISSS to submit an inquiry on your case at the 75 day processing mark, but at this time the email inquiry is not making any difference in the processing time and we have been told by ISSS to simply allow more time for processing. Until we are told otherwise by USCIS, ISSS is still willing to send one email to inquire on the status of your OPT application. Due to the current processing delays, we encourage you to wait until the 90 day mark before asking ISSS to send an email on your behalf. We cannot send multiple email inquiries to USCIS regarding your case. Please consider this new processing time when submitting your OPT application and negotiating a start date with any prospective employers. Remember, for post-completion OPT, USCIS will accept your application as early as 90 days before you will finish your degree (but no earlier), and your requested OPT start date can be any time during the 60 days after you will finish your degree. For STEM OPT, USCIS will accept your application up to 120 days before your current EAD expires, and you may continue to work for up to 180 days after your OPT expires while the application is pending, provided that it was received before your current OPT expires. Finally, if you are requesting OPT that will occur while you are still an active student (pre-completion OPT), USCIS will accept your application up to 90 days before your requested OPT start date. For more information on OPT, please attend an OPT workshop (register at icworkshops.uconn.edu) or contact your ISSS advisor<https://isss.uconn.edu/about/staff-directory/>. Rae Alexander Director International Student and Scholar Services UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT GLOBAL AFFAIRS 2011 Hillside Road, U-1083 STORRS, CT 06269-1083 PHONE: 860.486.3855 | EMAIL: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> http://isss.uconn.edu<http://isss.uconn.edu/> | www.facebook.com/UConnISSS<http://www.facebook.com/UConnISSS> | ISSS Walk-In Advising: MON - FRI: 1:00 - 3:30 pm ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the INTERNATIONAL-L list, click the following link: https://ListServ.Uconn.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=INTERNATIONAL-L&A=1