AFTER MAILING YOUR APPLICATION

Request for Additional Documentation
Some students may have more complicated visa situations and need to send USCIS more documentation certifying their eligibility for work authorization. Even students who are clearly eligible for practical training occasionally receive a written request from USCIS asking for technical corrections, such as new photographs. If you receive such a request (normally a blue sheet of paper) simply reply to USCIS directly with the requested documents, including the original blue sheet placed on top. If you do not understand the USCIS request, contact your advisor in the HIO. As always, make copies of your materials before you mail them, and send the reply by return receipt mail.

Checking the Progress of Your OPT Application
The first indication that your application is being processed after it is mailed to USCIS, is that your fee is taken (that is, your check is cashed). You may monitor your bank account to know when the fee has been taken. Next, you will get a receipt from USCIS (mailed to the address you indicated in your I-765 application) informing you that they have received your application. This receipt will have your case number printed on it, in the format as follows (with numbers in place of the "#"s): EAC-##-###-#####. The case number is also written on your cashed check, so that if you do not have a receipt from USCIS, you may still check on your application status. You can check the status of your application by entering this case number into the USCIS website: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/index.jsp

When OPT Employment is Permitted
You may only begin employment once you have the EAC (Employment Authorization Card) in your possession and you may only work within the dates printed on the card. A telephone or web confirmation that your application has been approved does not by itself permit employment. Graduating students are not permitted to work on campus after graduation, unless the job qualifies under OPT, and only within the dates of the EAC.

Travel After Graduation While Waiting for OPT Approval
After completion of studies, DO NOT leave the country without first receiving your EAC. Once you have graduated, you are required to show your EAC along with your other immigration documents in order to be permitted to reenter the United States. Printed on the EAC card will be the statement not valid for reentry. This statement means that you must have ALL documentation listed below in order to travel and return to the United States after graduation. In many cases students will also need to apply for new F-1 visa stamps before they may return to the United States. The following is a list of required documents to reenter the United States using OPT after graduation:

• a valid Form I-20, signed on page 3 by an advisor in the HIO (the signature should not be more than six months old at the time of reentry to the United States)
• a valid passport
• a valid F-1 visa stamp in the passport
• the EAC issued by USCIS
• evidence of a job offer, evidence of resumption of employment, or if not yet employed, evidence that you are searching for employment