Initial OPT
0 casesNo timelines yet for this type. Yours could be the first.
How long OPT, STEM OPT and pre-completion OPT applications actually took for the people who shared them, from receipt and biometrics to approval and the card in the mail, with medians for each service center. Add yours once it lands.
Up to 12 months of work authorization after you finish a degree (post-completion). You apply to USCIS on Form I-765 with a DSO recommendation in SEVIS, in the 90 days before your program end date or the 60 days after. Work must relate to your major.
An additional 24 months for graduates of an eligible STEM degree whose employer uses E-Verify and signs a Form I-983 training plan. You file while your initial OPT is still valid; if USCIS is still deciding on your end date, you may keep working for up to 180 days.
Work authorization while you are still enrolled: part-time (20 hours a week or less) during the term, full-time during breaks. Every month used is deducted from your 12 months of post-completion OPT, at half rate for part-time.
Every row below was typed in by someone who went through the process and chose to share their dates here — anonymously, with no account required. That makes it a living picture of what people are actually experiencing, filtered by the kind of OPT, the service center and premium processing. It also means the sample is small, self-selected and occasionally mistyped, so treat the medians as a rough guide rather than a promise. If your own case is done (or still pending), adding it helps the next person.
Computed from 0 shared timelines · updated with every submission
No timelines yet for this type. Yours could be the first.
No timelines yet for this type. Yours could be the first.
Two minutes, no account. Dates come straight from your USCIS notices or the online case status page. Partial timelines are welcome — a pending case still tells people how long the wait is right now.
No timelines yet for this type. Yours could be the first.
Not enough approved cases in the last 8 months to draw a trend yet.
Newest filings first. PP = premium processing; days count from filing to approval (or to today while pending).
Try a wider filter, or be the first to share a case like yours below.