USCIS Reverses Course, Allows STEM OPT Students To Work At Third-Party Sites

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has revised its website and announced that it will now allow F-1 students participating in the optional practical training (OPT) extension for individuals in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to work at third-party sites as long as the student's employer can demonstrate that it has a bona fide employment relationship with the student, in addition to meeting all other training obligations.

Although the agency's announcement describes the revision as a "clarification," in actuality, it appears to be a reversal of the restrictions it published on its website in January 2018, which, among other things, prohibited the employment of STEM OPT students anywhere other than at the employer's own place of business. The January 2018 changes caused considerable confusion, in part because they were made without any formal notice or announcement, leaving many to question whether a simple website revision should be