Laid Off on STEM OPT: The 150-Day Clock, the Final I-983 Evaluation and Your Next 10 Days
Your employer has five business days to tell your DSO and you have ten, but the number that decides your next move is how many of your 150 days you already spent.
Part of our guide to Form I-983.
If you were laid off on STEM OPT, three clocks start on your last day of work. Your employer must report the termination to your DSO within five business days. You must report the job loss, and submit a signed final Form I-983 evaluation, within 10 days. And your unemployment counter resumes from wherever it already stood. As of November 1, 2026, the limit is in effect and unchanged: 150 days in aggregate across post-completion OPT and STEM OPT, so every day you used before the extension comes off that 150. It did not drop to 60 days.
Status line (as of 2026-11-01):
- In effect, unchanged: 90 unemployment days on post-completion OPT and 150 in aggregate on STEM OPT, counted from your actual OPT start date for each day without employer information (SEVIS Help Hub unemployment counter, updated 2026-07-27).
- In effect, unchanged: the STEM OPT 180-day automatic extension. The 2026-10-14 EAD final rule (91 FR 65306) amends only 8 CFR 274a.13 and never mentions STEM OPT.
- Proposed, not in effect: DHS's OPT fee rule (91 FR 64566). Comments close 2026-11-09; it stays a proposal until a final rule is published. The school, not the student, would be the legal payer, and nothing is payable today.
- False: any claim that OPT unemployment was cut to 60 days.
Challenger's September 2026 report (2026-10-01) counted 43,281 job cuts announced by US-based employers in September and 165,925 tech cuts year to date, up 54%. October added named cuts at HubSpot (about 660, 10-06), Netflix (about 1,000, 10-14), eBay (about 9%, 8-K dated 10-20) and Dropbox (about 9%, 10-28). Our first-week plan for the October 2026 layoffs covers H-1B and STEM OPT side by side; this page is the STEM OPT detail.
Laid off on STEM OPT: the short answer
After a STEM OPT layoff, you have 10 days to report the job loss to your DSO and submit a signed final I-983 evaluation, and your employer has five business days to report it too. You may be unemployed for 150 days in total across OPT and STEM OPT, minus every day already used, as of November 2026.
Who reports what after a STEM OPT layoff
You and your employer both owe the DSO a report, on different clocks. SEVP's employer reporting page says the employer and student "both must notify the DSO" when employment is terminated.
| Obligation | Who | Deadline | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Report the termination | Employer | No later than 5 business days | Your DSO (an email stating the date is enough) |
| Report the loss of employment | You | Within 10 days | Your DSO, by your school's process |
| Final Evaluation on Student Progress (Form I-983, page 5) | You complete it; the employer official with signatory authority signs | Within 10 days of the end of the training | Your DSO |
| New Form I-983 for the next employer | You and the new employer | Within 10 days of your new start date | Your DSO, who enters the employer in SEVIS |
| E-Verify enrollment | New employer | Before you begin to work for pay | n/a |
| Unemployment limit | SEVIS counter | 150 days in aggregate, OPT days included | Your DSO can see the counter |
Table: STEM OPT layoff reporting duties, as of 2026-11. Sources: SEVP's student and employer reporting pages and USCIS's STEM OPT page. Your DSO's instructions govern how your school takes reports.
Do I have to tell my DSO I was laid off, and how fast?
Yes, within 10 days, even if you expect an offer next week. SEVP's student page says STEM OPT students "must report the termination of their practical training experience within 10 days" of the event. The new I-983 runs on its own 10-day clock from your new start date, so you report the loss first either way.
HR's five-business-day report is a separate duty and does not satisfy yours. Once you are back at work, the routine six-month validations and 12-month evaluation are in our STEM OPT reporting requirements checklist.
Your next 10 days, step by step
Say your last day of employment was Friday, 2026-10-30. Your employer's five-business-day deadline is Friday, 2026-11-06. Counting calendar days to be safe, your own 10-day deadline is Monday, 2026-11-09 (our arithmetic). If your DSO counts differently, use the earlier date.
- Get your last day of employment in writing from HR on day 0, including whether you stay on payroll through a notice period and when HR will report to your DSO.
- Complete the Final Evaluation on Student Progress on page 5 of Form I-983 (edition 7/16, OMB 1653-0054), with a date range ending on your last day, and get the employer official with signatory authority to sign it before your email and badge are switched off.
- Email your DSO at your school's international student office by day 10: report the end date, attach the signed evaluation, and ask for the "Days Accrued" and "Days Remaining" figures on your SEVIS unemployment counter.
- Enter the end date in the SEVP Portal too, if you have access. SEVP's employer-information help page says STEM OPT participants "have ten days to report the end of employment" and that "the Add Employer button does not appear" for them; your DSO enters the next employer.
- Confirm with HR that the company sent its own notice to the DSO within five business days.
- Calculate your hard stop: 150 minus days accrued, turned into a calendar date, compared with your STEM OPT EAD end date. The earlier date controls.
- Screen every new employer for E-Verify enrollment, at least 20 hours a week, a real employee relationship with the company signing the I-983, pay in line with similar US workers, and training related to your STEM degree.
- Prepare a new Form I-983 with the new employer and send it to your DSO within 10 days of your start date.
- Keep a folder: separation letter, final pay stub, any severance agreement, the signed evaluation, DSO emails and both sides of your EAD.
- Call an immigration attorney the same week if you have an H-1B petition pending or approved, are in cap-gap, or have an I-140.
How many unemployment days do I get on STEM OPT after a layoff?
You get 150 minus every day you have already used. The SEVIS Help Hub, citing 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(E), gives the STEM OPT allowance as "150 days, which includes any days accrued while on post-completion OPT." SEVIS looks back to your actual OPT start date and counts each day without employer information. USCIS's STEM OPT page (updated 2026-01-30) gives the same split: 90 on initial OPT, plus 60 with the extension. Gaps between earlier STEM employers count too.
Worked example: how initial OPT days shrink the 150
Take a hypothetical case. Meera's actual OPT start date was 2024-06-03, and her first job began 2024-07-22, so she used 49 days. Her STEM OPT started 2025-06-03 with the same employer, until a layoff with a last day of 2026-10-30.
| Event | Date | Days used | Days left of 150 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual OPT start date | 2024-06-03 | 0 | 150 |
| First job starts | 2024-07-22 | 49 | 101 |
| STEM OPT starts, same employer | 2025-06-03 | 49 | 101 |
| Last day of employment | 2026-10-30 | 49 | 101 |
| First day without employer information | 2026-10-31 | 50 | 100 |
| 150th aggregate day | 2027-02-08 | 150 | 0 |
| STEM OPT EAD ends | 2027-06-02 | n/a | n/a |
Table: Worked example, our arithmetic, as of 2026-11. Your DSO's SEVIS counter governs, not this table.
Meera's binding date is 2027-02-08, almost four months before her EAD ends. Because the first unemployed day depends on the end date entered in SEVIS, plan with a few days of margin.
Common misconception, then correction. "OPT unemployment was cut to 60 days in 2026." False. As of 2026-11-01, SEVP's Help Hub and USCIS's STEM OPT page both list 90 and 150, and no final rule has changed either number. A second myth: "STEM OPT gives you a fresh 150." Also false; it is 150 in aggregate. For Meera, the fresh-150 belief puts her deadline at 2027-03-29, seven weeks too late. The 60-day belief, counted fresh, puts it at 2026-12-29, six weeks too early, and that false urgency pushes people toward offers that do not qualify.
To pace the search itself, use our week-by-week plan for beating the OPT unemployment clock.
Who has to submit the final I-983 evaluation when I am laid off?
You do, with your employer's signature. SEVP's Students and the Form I-983 page says that if an opportunity ends early, the student must submit the final evaluation within 10 days. The employer page says the official with signature authority from your I-983 must sign and date it, then return it to you for your DSO.
Not submitting it, per SEVP, "would be a violation of the terms of the Form I-983" and may jeopardize your status. The practical problem is access, which layoffs often cut within hours. Ask for the signature in the meeting where you get your end date. If the official who signed your original I-983 has also left, ask HR who now holds signatory authority.
If you cannot get a signature by day 10, the official pages describe no fallback. Send your completed self-evaluation and copies of your written requests to your DSO by the deadline and follow its instructions. Laid off before your 12-month evaluation was due? Ask the DSO which evaluation page and date range it wants.
Does severance pay stop the STEM OPT unemployment clock?
Not by itself, in our reading of SEVP's pages. The SEVIS counter runs on employer information, not on pay, so what matters is the employment end date reported to your DSO. A lump sum paid after that date does not move it.
The harder case is a paid notice period. The Labor Department's plant closings and layoffs page says the WARN Act requires "at least 60 calendar days advance written notice" from employers with 100 or more employees before covered closings and mass layoffs, and some companies keep staff on payroll through that window with no work. STEM OPT requires "a minimum of 20 hours per week per employer," so do not assume paid-but-idle weeks count. If HR's termination date is later than your last day of real work, give your DSO both dates and ask which one goes into SEVIS.
Laid off while your STEM OPT extension is still pending
Say you filed your STEM OPT I-765 on time, your OPT EAD expired while it was pending, and you were working under the 180-day automatic extension when the layoff came.
What is settled. The 180-day extension still exists; USCIS says it "ceases once USCIS adjudicates your STEM OPT extension application," and the 2026-10-14 EAD rule did not touch it. It extends permission to work, not the job, and only for timely filers: a STEM I-765 filed after the OPT EAD expired gets no 180 days. Your reporting duties are the same as above.
What the official pages do not say. Neither USCIS's STEM OPT page nor SEVP's student reporting page says what happens to a pending application when the employer on its I-983 has let you go, or how days are counted if the extension is later denied. Ask your DSO both questions in your layoff email, plus which ceiling (90 or 150) your record shows while the application is pending, and plan as if every day counts. If USCIS sends a request for evidence about your employer, answer it with your DSO and an attorney. Do not book international travel while the application is pending until your DSO, and an attorney if you have another petition, have reviewed your case.
Can I start a new STEM OPT job before my DSO processes the new I-983?
SEVP's published timeline allows it. The student reporting page says students must "submit a new Form I-983 to their DSO within 10 days of starting the new practical training opportunity," and that "the new employer must be enrolled in E-Verify before the student begins to work for pay." Many schools want the form before day one, so follow your DSO. The SEVP Portal shows the new employer the day after your DSO submits it in SEVIS.
The job has to qualify like your first one, on the step 7 criteria from SEVP's STEM OPT extension overview: an E-Verify employer, bona fide employment with the company signing the I-983, formal training and learning objectives, and pay "commensurate" with similarly situated US workers. See how to check an employer's E-Verify enrollment, and use our checklist for changing employers on STEM OPT for the new I-983. Once you start, the reporting rhythm on SEVP's pages is a six-month validation plus the 12-month and final evaluations; we found no quarterly attestation requirement on them (as of 2026-11-01).
Edge cases that change the plan
- You are in cap-gap. If the employer that laid you off filed a cap-subject H-1B change-of-status petition for you, pending or approved, cap-gap ends automatically if that petition is denied, withdrawn, revoked or rejected. Read our guide to being laid off during cap-gap, then call your DSO and an attorney the same day.
- Your EAD ends first. If your STEM OPT EAD end date comes before your 150th day, the EAD date is the hard stop.
- There is no layoff grace period on STEM OPT. The unemployment allowance is your cushion. The F-1 60-day grace period still applies as of 2026-11-01, because a federal court has blocked the Duration of Status rule since 2026-09-14, but it follows the end of your authorized practical training and does not pause the unemployment count. The H-1B worker grace period of up to 60 days does not apply in F-1 status, and DHS's proposal to eliminate it (comments close 2026-11-10) does not cover F-1 students.
Common mistakes
- Waiting for an offer before reporting. The 10-day report is due either way.
- Leaving without the final evaluation signed. It is easiest on day 0 and hardest once access is cut.
- Assuming a fresh 150. Initial OPT days and any gaps between earlier employers come off the total.
- Believing the 60-day myth and rushing into an offer that does not qualify.
- Treating severance or an idle notice period as employment without your DSO's answer in writing.
- Accepting a role with no E-Verify enrollment, or a client-site setup where the company signing the I-983 is not your real employer.
- Forgetting the EAD end date, which can arrive before your days run out.
Frequently asked questions
How many unemployment days do I get on STEM OPT after a layoff?
You get 150 days in aggregate across post-completion OPT and STEM OPT, minus every day you have already used, including days on initial OPT. As of November 1, 2026, that limit is in effect and unchanged, and SEVIS counts each day without employer information from your actual OPT start date. Ask your DSO for the Days Accrued figure on your SEVIS record.
Who has to submit the final I-983 evaluation when I am laid off?
You complete the final evaluation on page 5 of Form I-983 and submit it to your DSO within 10 days of your last day, after the employer official with signatory authority signs it. SEVP says not submitting it violates the terms of the I-983 and may jeopardize your status. Ask for the signature before your company access ends.
Do I have to tell my DSO I was laid off, and how fast?
Yes. SEVP requires STEM OPT students to report the end of their training within 10 days, and your employer separately has five business days to report the termination to your DSO. SEVP's employer guidance says an email to the DSO stating the date satisfies the requirement (as of November 2026).
Can I start a new STEM OPT job before my DSO processes the new I-983?
SEVP's timeline allows it. As of November 2026, its student reporting page says the new Form I-983 is due to your DSO within 10 days of starting the new training, and the new employer must be enrolled in E-Verify before you begin to work for pay. Many schools want the form before day one, so follow your DSO's process.
Does severance pay stop the STEM OPT unemployment clock?
Not by itself, in our reading of SEVP's pages. The SEVIS counter runs on employer information, not pay, so the date that matters is the employment end date reported to your DSO; a lump sum paid after that date does not move it. If you stay on payroll through a notice period without working, get the end date in writing and ask your DSO which date to report.
Sources
- SEVP, SEVIS Help Hub: Unemployment counter (updated 2026-07-27)
- SEVP, STEM OPT Hub: Students: reporting requirements; Employers: reporting requirements; STEM OPT extension overview
- SEVP: Students and the Form I-983; Update employer information (SEVP Portal)
- ICE: Form I-983, Training Plan for STEM OPT Students
- USCIS: OPT extension for STEM students (updated 2026-01-30)
- Federal Register and GovInfo: EAD final rule, 91 FR 65306; OPT fees NPRM; worker grace-period NPRM
- US Department of Labor: Plant closings and layoffs
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas: September 2026 job cuts report
How we checked this: we read the SEVP, ICE, USCIS, Federal Register, GovInfo, DOL and Challenger pages above on 2026-11-01, re-opened each on 2026-11-02, and checked every date, deadline and number against our facts brief dated 2026-11-01. The worked-example dates are our own arithmetic.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your own I-20, EAD, SEVIS record and your DSO's instructions govern; take petition and status-strategy questions to a licensed immigration attorney.
A layoff turns a long search into a countdown. If you want help aiming the days you have left at E-Verify employers that hire people on STEM OPT, F1Jobs runs job searches for international candidates and can talk through your plan.
Frequently asked questions
How many unemployment days do I get on STEM OPT after a layoff?
You get 150 days in aggregate across post-completion OPT and STEM OPT, minus every day you have already used, including days on initial OPT. As of November 1, 2026, that limit is in effect and unchanged, and SEVIS counts each day without employer information from your actual OPT start date. Ask your DSO for the Days Accrued figure on your SEVIS record.
Who has to submit the final I-983 evaluation when I am laid off?
You complete the final evaluation on page 5 of Form I-983 and submit it to your DSO within 10 days of your last day, after the employer official with signatory authority signs it. SEVP says not submitting it violates the terms of the I-983 and may jeopardize your status. Ask for the signature before your company access ends.
Do I have to tell my DSO I was laid off, and how fast?
Yes. SEVP requires STEM OPT students to report the end of their training within 10 days, and your employer separately has five business days to report the termination to your DSO. SEVP's employer guidance says an email to the DSO stating the date satisfies the requirement (as of November 2026).
Can I start a new STEM OPT job before my DSO processes the new I-983?
SEVP's timeline allows it. As of November 2026, its student reporting page says the new Form I-983 is due to your DSO within 10 days of starting the new training, and the new employer must be enrolled in E-Verify before you begin to work for pay. Many schools want the form before day one, so follow your DSO's process.
Does severance pay stop the STEM OPT unemployment clock?
Not by itself, in our reading of SEVP's pages. The SEVIS counter runs on employer information, not pay, so the date that matters is the employment end date reported to your DSO; a lump sum paid after that date does not move it. If you stay on payroll through a notice period without working, get the end date in writing and ask your DSO which date to report.