It has come to the attention of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Service Center Operations (SCOPS) that some recently denied optional practical training (OPT) science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) extension applications were not adjudicated in accordance with applicable Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) OPT policy guidance, resulting in the applications being denied in error.
This notice is intended to alert designated school officials who have students whose OPT STEM extension applications may have been so denied, and to provide them with instruction on how to proceed if denied solely due to this discrepancy.
If a student’s OPT STEM application was denied solely on the basis that he or she intended to work as a volunteer or unpaid intern, the student should contact the Service Center that issued the denial by sending an email message to the applicable dedicated student mailbox (listed below).
In the email message, the student should provide his or her full name, as well as his or her USCIS receipt number relating to the denied OPT STEM extension application.
California Service Center: CSC.StudentEAD@uscis.dhs.gov
Vermont Service Center: VSC.Schools@uscis.dhs.govTexas Service Center: TSC.Schools@uscis.dhs.gov
Nebraska Service Center: NSC.Schools@uscis.dhs.gov
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