Get the latest 17 Months STEM OPT Extension updates here. STEM OPT Extension rule published in April 2008 by President George Bush Administration is Vacated by the Court. Related Articles on STEM OPT:

US District Court – STEM OPT Extension Timeline

Aug 12, 2015 – Federal Court Vacates STEM OPT Extension Rule Sep 11, 2015 – White House Petition Reaches 100,000 Signatures Oct 2, 2015 – Rule Making Process ( see below the timeline) Dec 15, 2015 – Validity of current 17 Months STEM OPT extension under Review Dec 22, 2015 – DHS asks the federal county for deadline extension till May 10, 2016 Dec 24, 2015 – Court gave a deadline of Jan 11, 2016 for Wash Teach to respond to DHS. Jan 11, 2016 – Wash Tech replied asking the court to not grant the extension. Jan 15, 2016 – DHS responds to WashTech. Jan 19, 2016 – Waiting for court’s decision. What happens next? Jan 19, 2016 – Judge Orders Hearing at 3.00 PM EST on Jan 21. 2016 Jan 21, 2016 – There’s no decision from the Judge after the Hearing. Jan 23, 2016 – Judge’s Extended the Deadline. Feb 5, 2016 – DHS Submits Final Rule to OMB. Mar 02, 2016 – OMB clears the rule. Mar 9, 2016 – STEM OPT Rule Text Published Mar 10, 2016 – Rule Published to Federal Register May 10, 2016 – 24 Months Rule becomes effective May 14, 2016 – District Court Judge dismisses the case as moot. June 17, 2016 – Wash Tech Filed a new lawsuit against the new 24 Months STEM OPT Rule. April 19, 2017 – Motion is denied (Court Order). STEM OPT Rule Survives!

What a ride. I hope this is the end.

STEM OPT Rule Making Timeline

Oct 2, 2015 – DHS submits Proposed Rule to OMB for Approval (Completed) Oct 14, 2015 – OMB Approves the Proposed Rule ( Completed ) Oct 19, 2015 – Public Commenting on Rule Making Begins ( Completed ) Nov 18, 2015 – Public Comment Period Ends (Completed) DHS reviews the comments to prepare the Final Rule (Completed) DHS submits the Final rule to OMB for Approval (Completed) OMB Reviews and Approves Final Rule (Completed) DHS Published the final Rule to Federal Register Date when Rule goes into Effect Case dismissed

Here’s the timeline of events till date and progress made by DHS to implement the STEM OPT Extension Rule. There’s so many nervous folks who are expecting this rule to be implemented.

Mar 10, 2016

Actual text of the final rule

24 Months STEM OPT Extension

Effective from May 10, 2016

More details in upcomign video

March 2, 2016

Received Date: 02/05/2016

Title: Improving and Expanding Training Opportunities for F-1 Nonimmigrant Students with STEM Degrees and Cap-Gap Relief for All Eligible F-1 Students

Agency/Subagency: DHS / USICE

Stage: Final Rule

Concluded Date: 03/02/2016

Economically Significant: Yes

Expect DHS to publish to Rule Shortly in the federal register

Feb 5, 2016

DHS have submitted the Final Rule to OMB for Review and Approval. (Link)

The Rule is now Marked No for Economically Significant . If Economically Significant = 60 Days delayed Implementation Date. If Not Economically Significant = 30 Days Delayed Implementation Date

. Watch this Video and this Video for more details.

I will try to get more details on this.

Jan 23, 2016

Here’s the Judge’s Oder. This just came in. Deadline is Extended.

Jan 21, 2016

Hearing was held today at 3 PM EST

No decision announced at the end of the hearing.

Judge heard the motion and taken under advisement.

In layman’s terms, “I heard you guys, now let me think about this and then issue an order.”

Jan 15, 2015

DHS responds to Washington Tech. Link to Reply.

DHS is requesting the court to confirm if the current STEM OPT extension will remain valid.

Jan 12, 2015

Wash Tech Files motion requestion court to not respond ( Link to Motion Filed by Wash Tech )

It claims Dec 14, 2016 was deadline for DHS to have published the rule.

Some excerpt from the document that you MUST Read:

“The Court gave DHS a six month delay to mitigate the effect of the vacatur order and DHS still has not bothered to notify those affected that aliens will not be able to work on OPT extensions after February 12, 2016 or told them what their options will be.” (Page 14) When DHS requested the Court stay vacatur, it clearly stated that aliens would not be able to work on OPT extensions after a vacatur and that, without such a stay, such aliens would have to “scramble to depart the United States (Page 15)

Same was explained by Attorney Murali Bashyam in this video on STEM OPT Extension News:

Dec 24, 2015 – Deadline Extension

DHS have requested Federal Count to extend Feb 12, 2016 deadline to May 10, 2016. ( DHS Federal Court Filing for Extension )

deadline to May 10, 2016. ( DHS Federal Court Filing for Extension ) Video – What happens after Feb 12, 2016 deadline for students with STEM OPT Extension?

The Federal court should now decide if they would grant the extension of 3 months.

If an extension is granted ( much needed one), then DHS would have more time to review the comments and finalize the rule.slide

Dec 15, 2015 – Oops, Current STEM OPT – Undecided

Dec 9, 2015 (below) we got an update from AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) that current STEM OPT Extension will remain valid after Feb 12, 2016.

But, that’s not the case anymore. Here’s the update “no decision has yet been made that STEM optional practical training (OPT) employment authorization documents (EADs) will remain valid after February 12, 2016.” from Murthy.com

Dec 9, 2015 – Current STEM OPT Extension Remains Valid

Nebraska Service Center confirmed to AILA that Current 17 Months STEM OPT Extension will be valid after Feb 12, 2016

If you already have STEM OPT Extension approved, it will remain valid beyond Feb 12, 2016

If you are eligible to apply for 17 Months STEM OPT Extension, then go ahead and apply for STEM OPT Extension. Now!

Oct 19 to Nov 18, 2015 – Comment Period

STEM OPT Proposed Rule Comment Period was between Oct 19 to Nov 18, 2015

Over 50,000 Comments were received during the 30 days commenting period.

Rule Implementation is not based on Number of Positive vs. Negative Comments

October 16, 2015 – Proposed Rule

Here’s the Actual Proposed Rule Details – Original Text of the Rule

STEM OPT Extension – 17 to 24 months

Cap-Gap Relief

Employer should be e-Verify Eligible

October 14, 2015 – OMB Approved

OMB Approved the Proposed STEM OPT Extension rule in 12 Days. Here’s the link to RegInfo.Next Step: DHS to publish the Proposed Rule for Public Comments. Stay tuned!

October 2, 2015 – STEM Rule Making Begins

So, it begins. DHS have started the Rule Making Process for STEM OPT Extension. Watch the Video Below to Learn more about the Rule Making for STEM OPT Extension.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQrK5cjuksQ

October 2, 2015 – Official Update So, far there’s been no official update from DHS or USCIS or ICE about 17 Months STEM OPT Extension until today. Some form of official confirmation is better than no news right? Finally, there’s an official update from DHS. Refer to the attached screenshot below.What does the following update mean? DHS is working on drafting a rule for STEM OPT Extension

As I told you before, Rule Making is a complex process. Be Patient.

There’s no timeline available on when this rule will be officially proposed.

We don’t know any details about the Rule.

September 16, 2015 Some comments are reported that USCIs is approving EAD only till Feb 12, 2015, instead of 17 Months OPT. Read the comments at Facts and Stats About STEM Optional Practical Training The New OPT extensions that are being issued after the court ruling are only valid until Feb 2016. Many of friends who’ve applied for an extension got their EAD’s Valid until Feb 2016. I wasn’t very much bothered about the revoking of OPT extension until now, because I always hoped that this situation would be fixed by feb 2016. But I’m really concerned now. September 11, 2015 White House Petition reached 100,000 Signature and update was delivered for those who signed the petitions. August 23, 2015 – What’s Going to Happen Now?

We don’t have any official news about how they are going to handle STEM Optional Practical Training Extension cancelation.Questions remain if DHS will make use of this opportunity to extend the STEM OPT or Post-Completion OPT. In the meantime, some signatures required to reach 100,000 for White House to respond has slowed Down. You have to keep up spreading the word about White House Petition. There’s lot more than 100,000 people in OPT period and close to 800,000 international students studying in America now. August 19, 2015 – DHS Memo “Currently reviewing the ruling and will issue additional guidance in the “coming weeks on how this ruling impacts our stakeholders”. – DHS Memo August 18, 2015 – New Appeal Just when we thought what DHS could do now, Washington Alliance of Technology Workers filed an appeal against Department of Home Land Security on August 18, 2015. “Notice is hereby given that Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, plaintiff in the above named case, hereby appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from the final judgment entered in this action on the 12th day of August, 2015.” What does that Mean: Federal Judge had said that 12 Months OPT is Valid.

17 months OPT Rule is Vacated

Giving DHS an option to do Notice and Comment Rule Making process. But, this appeal could challenge if DHS had the authority to create 17 Months STEM OPT Rule. August 17, 2015 Here’s the latest STEM OPT Extension Updates for August 17, 2015. We are waiting for an official update from DHS or USCIS about their plan of Action for STEM OPT Extension. Sign the Petition for White House. White House will respond if we reach 100,000 Signatures before Sept 13, 2015. August 13, 2015 Quick Overview about the Federal Court Ruling on STEM OPT Extension. This is the first update (before other copy cat website picked up the news).