F-1 OPT Unemployment Limits: 90 Days on Post-Completion OPT, 150 Days in Total With STEM OPT
F-1 students on Optional Practical Training (OPT) face firm limits on how long they can be unemployed. According to Study in the States, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's student portal, students on post-completion OPT may accrue no more than 90 days of unemployment in total. Students who receive the 24-month STEM OPT extension get a total limit of 150 days across the whole OPT period, and that total includes any days already used on post-completion OPT; it is not a fresh 150 days on top of the 90.
The counting is done by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS looks back to the student's actual OPT start date and counts each day without employer information in the record as a day of unemployment. The unemployment counter shows three figures: days allowed, days accrued and days remaining. The allowance is 90 days for post-completion OPT only, and 150 days for post-completion OPT plus STEM OPT.
That means a job that has not been reported still looks like unemployment in the system. The limit comes from the federal regulation at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(E), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services states the same figures on its STEM OPT page: up to 90 days with initial OPT only, and an additional 60 days for a total of 150 with the 24-month extension.
Students can ask their designated school official (DSO) to check the counter in their record, and can view their own record through the SEVP Portal. Anyone approaching the limit should confirm the accrued days with the DSO early, so the count does not run past the cap unnoticed.
(Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Wikimedia Commons「Women Students Celebrating Graduation - University of Alabama」（Adam Jones 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0），图中为阿拉巴马大学庆祝毕业的学生 Image: Wikimedia Commons, "Women Students Celebrating Graduation - University of Alabama" (by Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0), showing students celebrating graduation at the University of Alabama
St. Francis Xavier University in Canada Announces the Levangie Morrison Scholarship on November 13: 10,000 Dollars in the First Year and 7,500 Dollars a Year for a Further Three Years, With Nursing Student and Rugby Player Gwyneth Galloway as First Recipient2026-11-14
University of Alaska Offers the Scholars Award to 1,004 Graduating Seniors: 15,000 Dollars Each and a Total Commitment of More Than 15 Million Dollars for Students Ranked in the Top 10 Percent of Their Class2026-11-14