District Court of DC says STEM 17 months OPT extension is invalid

In the case of Wash. Alliance of Tech. Workers v. DHS, 8/12/15 – The DC District Court held that the 17 OPT extension was invalid because it was passed without notice or public comments. However due to the hardship on the technology sector, the court is granting DHS until February 12 2016 to place notice and public comments on the regulatory board.

The F1 student visa program regularly provides one year of an OPT (EAD – work authorization document) to student graduating from a United States institution. For those who fall under STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) an extra extension on the OPT of 17 months.  This has actually revived the F1 student sector and in case the rule is completely invalidated, we risk to see that the number of foreign students applying a student visa diminish in the next few years.  We hope the government will successfully comply and pass the regulations to keep the 17 months OPT extension.