Student
and
Exchange Visitor Program
SEVP Policy Guidance: Prac
ti
cal
Tra
ining- Determining a Dir
ect
Rela
ti
onship Be
tw
een
Employme
nt
and a
St
u
de
n
t's
Ma
jor Area
of
Study
Date: Septe
mbe
r 27, 2019
Purpose:
Fede
ra
l regulation permits F-1 nonimmigrant students to apply for auth
or
i
za
ti
on to engage in
Optional Practical
Tra
ining
(O
PT
) th
at
is directly related to their major area
of
study.
1
However,
stu
den
ts are not required to ha
ve
a job o
ff
er prior to initiating the approval process for
OPT
,
which requir
es
b
ot
h a reco
mm
end
at
ion from the
sc
hool's D
es
i
gna
ted
Sc
h
oo
l Official (DSO) and
an Employment Authori
za
tion Docum
ent
(EAD) from United Stat
es
Citi
ze
nship and
lnm, igration
Ser
vices (USCIS).
2
Beca
u
se
a student might not have empl
oy
ment at the time they
obtain a re
comm
endation
or
authorization to work and can also change employment at any
ti
me
during the
OPT
pe
ri
od, there has been some uncer
ta
inty about the nec
essa
ry steps to determine if
an
OPT
request
or
opportunity is directly related to a student
's
major area of study.
This guidan
ce
a
ddr
esses b
ot
h OPT and science, tecl
mo
logy, engin
ee
ring and
mat
hemati
cs
(ST
EM) OPT
ex
tension opportunities a
nd
explains that students are responsible for providing a
d
es
cription of how their job relates to their major area
of
study,
wh
ich the DSO must revi
ew
and
retain. When the D
SO
has concerns about whether the job dir
ec
tly relates to the stu
de
nt
's
major
area
of
study, additional d
oc
umentation may be required
to
demonstrate the conn
ec
tion.
This guidan
ce
super
se
des any information previously provided by the St
ude
nt and Exchange
Visitor Program (
SE
VP) on this matte
r.
Background:
In February
20
14, the
Gov
ernment Accountab
il
ity Office (GAO) re
comm
ended that SEVP
"develop a
nd
distribute gui
da
n
ce
to DSOs on how to determine whether a job is
re
lated to a
studen
t's
area
of
stu
dy
and require DSOs to provi
de
informa
ti
on in SEVJS to sh
ow
th
at
they took
steps, based
on
this guidance, to help ensure that the stude
nt'
s w
or
k is related to
the
area
of
study."
3
In r
es
pon
se
to the
GA
O Repor
t,
SEVP enhanced the Student and
Exc
hange Visitor
Information System (SEVIS) to provide new mechanisms for reporting and tracking stu
de
nt
employment.
For
ex
amp
le,
SE
VIS n
ow
issu
es
alerts to notify D
SOs
of
students
who
ha
ve
failed
to
report an
OPT
empl
oye
r.
In addition, beginning in December 2015,
SE
VIS made the free text
fi
eld, "
Ex
plain H
ow
Empl
oyme
nt is Related to Course Wor
k,
" mandatory when reporting
em
pl
oymen
t.
Th
is
fi
eld is provi
de
d so that SEVIS wi
ll
conta
in
a record
of
h
ow
each
job
relates
1
8
CF
R 214.2(/)(/ O)(ii)(A).
2
For STEM OPT
th
e requirements are slightly di
ffe
rent and specify that
th
e s
tu
dent have a job or job offer prior to
seeking
th
e STEM OPT
ex
tensio
n.
3
GA
O Report 14-356, Student and Exchange Visitor
Pr
ogram: OHS Needs to Assess Risks and Strengthen
Oversight
of
Forei
gn
Students with Employment Authorization.
SEVP Policy Guidance
Practical
Training-Determining
a Direct Relationship Between Employment and a Student's
Major Area
of
Study
to a student's area
of
study. Other mandatory information related to employment includes
employer name, start date, whether the employment is full-time or part-time, and employer
address. Also, SEVIS now tracks unemployment days for individuals participating in practical
training to help ensure that students do not exceed the applicable unemployment limits, which is
90 days for OPT and 150 days for STEM OPT.
Another enhancement is the creation
of
the SEVP Portal, which launched on March 23, 2018.
The Portal provides students with a way to directly report, through a SEVIS-linked database,
certain required information, including information about employment. The Portal includes a text
field, titled
"Relation to Field o/Study: Explain how this
job
relates to the degree that qualified
you/or
this OPT," so students can explain how their employment relates to their major area
of
study.
Policy:
One eligibility requirement for practical training is that the practical training opportunity be
"directly related to the student's major area
of
study" (8 CFR 214.2(/)(J0)(ii)(A)). Similarly, for
the STEM OPT extension, the "practical training opportunity
...
must be directly related to the
degree that qualifies the student for such extension"
(8 CFR 214.2(/)(J0)(ii)(C)(4)). "When a
DSO recommends a student for OPT, the school assumes the added responsibility for
maintaining the SEVIS record
of
that student for the entire period
of
authorized OPT
...
" and
must update "the student's record to reflect these reported changes for the duration
of
time that
training is authorized"
(8 CFR 214.2(/)(J l)(ii) and (/)(12)(i)). Prior to making a
recommendation, the DSO at the student's educational institution must ensure that the student is
eligible for the type and period
of
OPT and that the student is aware
of
their responsibility for
maintaining status while on OPT
(8 CFR 214.2(/)(l l)(ii)(A)). The requirement that practical
training be directly related to a student's major area
of
study is longstanding and meant to ensure
that the employment experience supplements the individual's educational pursuits.
SEVP recognizes that initiating the recommendation and approval process for OPT without
requiring a
job
is a significant complication in determining whether there is a direct relation
between an intended
job
and a student's course
of
study. However, nonimmigrant students only
have a limited time to obtain both the DSO recommendation and the EAD from USCIS before
finding a job.
If
students had to obtain a
job
first and then apply for a recommendation and
authorization, their ability to start working would be far less certain because an employer would
have to wait an unspecified period
of
time before the student could start and ultimately the
student's request for authorization could be denied, wasting both the employer's and student's
time. Additionally, it would increase the likelihood that students might start working prior to
obtaining proper authorization and therefore lose their immigration status because
of
unauthorized employment. For these reasons, the regulations, except those pertaining to STEM
OPT, permit students to initiate the practical training process and then find a job.
Another potential complexity with practical training is that the relationship between an
employment opportunity and a student's major area
of
study may not be immediately
discemable. For example, when a student who graduates with a degree in music lists his/her
employer as a restaurant. There may not appear to be a direct relationship with the degree, but
2
SEVP
Policy Guidance
Pr
ac
tical Training- D
ete
rmining a Direct Relationship
Bet
ween
Emp
loy
ment
and a
St
u
dent's
Ma
jor Ar
ea
of
St
ud
y
th
e student
cou
ld be employed as a musical enterta
in
er. Conversely, a
DSO
should n
ot
ass
ume a
dir
ec
t relationship
ju
st
because a student with an accounting d
eg
ree reports working at an
accounting firm. Instead,
st
uden
ts
must describe their job-related duties and explain h
ow
th
ose
duties relate to their major ar
ea
of
study.
Document
ing the Direct
Re
l
at
ionship:
No
n immigrant
st
u
de
nts are responsible for providing a desc
ri
ption
of
how
their practical
tr
aining
opportunity relates to
the
ir major area
of
study, which the
DSO
mu
st
revi
ew
an
d retain.
Pr
eferably, this description would be entered in the free text section in SEVIS, described above,
which is provided for the purpose
of
capturing this inform
at
ion.
St
udents
ca
n enter the
inform
at
ion by using the Portal or DSOs can enter the inform
at
ion dir
ec
tly in SEVIS.
4
As an alternative to e
nt
ering the information
in
SEVIS, the
DSO
must obtain an explanation
of
h
ow
the job relat
es
to
the
student
's
major area
of
study and retain that explanation in the
student
's
records.
SEVP
may requ
est
this information as part
of
a comp
li
an
ce
revi
ew
.
If
an
explanation is n
ot
entered
in
SEV
IS, a notation should be made in the free text field indicating
that the
DSO
has r
ece
ived an
ex
planation
of
the direct relationship and will mainta
in
the record
in the student's file.
The
written explanation, maintained in SEVIS or otherwise, should include the student
's
job
title, employer n
ame
, major area
of
st
udy, whether
fu
ll
time
5
or
the average hours worked per
week, and a brief explana
ti
on
of
b
ow
the
job
is directly related to the student's studi
es
.
The
regul
ar
duti
es
should be
exp
lained and the nexus between those duti
es
a
nd
the degr
ee
described
(see
exa
mples provided
at
the end
of
t
hi
s document).
Assessing
th
e
Dir
ec
t Relationshi
p:
As
d
es
cribed in the r
eg
ul
at
i
ons
(8
C
FR
21-1.2
(1)
(1
J
)(
ii)) , when a
DSO
recommends a student for
OPT
or
STEM
OPT,
the school assum
es
additional responsibiliti
es
to monitor and update the
student
's
SEVIS record.
Cons
istent with those responsibilities, a
DSO
must
ma
ke a
determination
of
whether there is a direct relationship between the
job
and
the
major ar
ea
of
study.
The
dec
ision sho
ul
d be made on a case-by-case basis. The inquiry is whether there is a
logi
ca
l connection between the duti
es
involved in
th
e practical training opportunity and
the
studen
t's
major area
of
study. In the vast majo
ri
ty
of
cases, a DSO should be able to make that
assessment ba
se
d
on
th
e
docume
ntation provided by the studen
t.
If
a
DSO
be
li
eves that the
d
oc
umentation do
es
not
pro
vi
de
a sufficient ex
pl
anation, they should ask for additional
ev
idence
to better understand the relationship. Although n
ot
required,
DSO
s may m
ake
u
se
of
we
bsites
that provide a
ge
n
era
l crosswalk between jobs and programs
of
st
udy.
Exam
ples
of
the
se
types
of
websit
es
include, but are n
ot
limited to, sites maintained by the
Co
ll
ege
Board,
6
the
Department
of
Labor
7
and the National
Ce
nter for Education Statistics.
8
4
DSO instruction;
St
u
de
nt instruction.
5
For
th
e purpose
of
t
hi
s poli
cy
, full
ti
me is considered to be 20 hours or more per week.
6
https:
//
bigfuture.co l legeboard.org/majors-careers.
7
https:
//
www
.on
eto
nline.org.
8
https:
//
nces.ed.gov/ip
eds
/
cipcode
/Defau lt.aspx
?v=
55.
3
SEVP Policy Guidance
Practical
Training-Determining
a Direct Relationship Between Employment and a Student's
Major Area
of
Study
Common Scenarios and Responsibilities:
The following describes common scenarios and responsibilities related to establishing a
relationship between practical training opportunities and a student's major area
of
study:
1.
Students on Pre-Completion OPT: The DSO is not required to report employer
information directly in SEVIS for students engaging in Pre-Completion OPT. However,
the DSO should collect and retain a written explanation from the student on how each
OPT employment opportunity directly relates to their major area
of
study.
2. Students on Post-Completion OPT: When making a recommendation for OPT, the
DSO should inform the student
of
the responsibility to only engage in practical training
opportunities that are directly related
to
the student's major area
of
study. The student is
responsible for reporting their employment to the DSO and explaining, in writing, how
the
job
relates to their major area
of
study so that the information can be reported in
SEVIS or otherwise retained. This written explanation should be kept in the student's
record
if
not entered in the free text field in SEVIS.
3. Students on STEM OPT Extension: Prior to making a recommendation for a STEM
OPT extension or when adding new STEM OPT employment, the DSO must collect a
completed and signed Form 1-983, "Training Plan for STEM OPT Students." The Form
1-983 must be retained in the student's record.
4. Students registered with the SEVP Student Portal: DSOs may direct students to report
their OPT information via the Portal. However, this does not negate the
DSO's
recordkeeping and other responsibilities related to practical training. For that reason, it
may be necessary to implement spot-check procedures to ensure that appropriate
information is provided by the student. Students who
fail to report or enter their
information in the Portal in a timely manner or otherwise
fail to comply with their
reporting requirements may be deemed to be in violation
of
their nonimmigrant status.
Sample Explanations
of
a Direct Relationship
1.
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering: I work full time as an Electrical Engineer at
ABC Corp., a government contractor. In my job, I analyze client requirements for
electrical systems and provide them with cost estimates
of
such systems. My work
requires understanding
of
electrical circuit theory, which I studied in-depth at the
University
of
ABC.
2. Bachelor's degree in Business: I work full time as a Loan Officer at a mortgage company,
Happy Homes, where I meet with clients and evaluate, authorize and recommend
approval
of
loan applfoations. On a daily basis, I use the knowledge I gained in my credit
analysis, sales and marketing classes that I took as part
of
my major program
of
study.
3. Master's degree in Music: I am working at a hospital playing the harp in patient rooms. I
also conduct hands-on harp beginner workshops for long-term patients. On average, I
4
SEVP
Po
li
cy
Guida
n
ce
Practical Tr
aining-Determin
ing a Direct Relationship
Between
Empl
oyment
and
a St
udent's
Majo
r
Area
of
Stud
y
wo
rk
at
the hospital
35
hours a week.
My
dut
i
es
directly utili
ze
the skills and
know
l
edg
e
I
ac
quired
from
my
coursework and degree in
mus
ic therapy.
4. P
hD
in
Co
m
puter
Sc
ience: I am emplo
ye
d as a
Comp
uter and Inform
at
i
on
Research
Sc
ienti
st
at
ABC
Resea
rch Institute. I
work
as
part
of
a
tea
m
of
scienti
sts
and eng
in
ee
rs
that
des
i
gns
experiments
to test the operation
of
various
software
systems.
My
wo
rk
builds
on
r
esea
rch in
complex
algorithms and machine l
ea
rn
ing,
wh
i
ch
I studied as
pa
rt
of
my dissertation.
5.
Maste
r
's
degree
in
Kines
iology: I
am
wo
rking 25 hours a
week
in a
hea
l
th
food store
as
a
consu
ltant
for
Self
-
Made
Inc., designing and teachi
ng
exerc
i
se
classes that
are
i
nco
r
po
rat
ed
into a customer
's
overall nutrition and exercise plan.
My
des
i
gns
and
cus
t
ome
r instr
uct
ion
draw
upon my studies and
classwork
in
exe
rci
se
th
erapy
and
ph
ysical r
eco
nditioning.
Limits
of
u
se
- no
pr
ivate right
of
action:
No
thing in
th
is guidan
ce
limi
ts
SEVP's
authori
ty
or
di
sc
r
et
ion
to
interpret,
admin
ister
or
enforce any statute, regul
at
ion,
po
l i
cy
or
gu
idan
ce
related
to
SEVP
ce
rtification. It is n
ot
intended to, do
es
not, and
ma
y not
be
relied upon to cr
eate
or
co
nfer
an
y ri
gh
t
or
be
nefit, s
ubst
antive or procedural,
enfo
rceable
at
l
aw
or in equity
by
an
y
pe
rson,
individual
or
ot
h
er
party
,
pub
lic or
pr
ivate, in
any
administrati
ve
, civil or
cr
iminal matter.
~SD.
Hi
cks
Divisi
on
Ch
ief
,
Externa
l
Operat
i
ons
Student a
nd
Exc
h
ange
Visitor Program
5
