Hello, everybody. In this video, I wanted to provide an important update for certain
individuals specifically impacted by USCIS receipt delays. In this case, we're talking
about international students. As you know, international students who are applying for
the work permit are really subject to very strict deadlines in terms of when they file
and when they are able to start working. As I reported before, and you can watch the video
here that talks about receipt delays, these delays impacted the student's ability to get
their work permits on time. So, in this video, we'll talk about some specific changes that
USCIS is implementing to help these students still get the full term of their OPT. So,
let's dive right in. So, in this video, we'll talk about how to get your four 12 months
OPT period even though there are issues at the timing of when you file it next, what
to do when your OPT filing is rejected and you have to refile it but now you're late,
we'll talk about that too. And finally, what happens when your forms are missing signatures
or the signatures are deficient, and you get those forms returned, how is it going to impact
your work permit, so we'll talk about all that. So, make sure you watch till the end.
Welcome back to our Immigration channel. This is a place where you get the most up-to-date
immigration news, immigration updates, and all the other information you need to make
your immigration journey stress-free. My name is Jacob Sapochnik, and I'm an immigration
attorney located in San Diego, California. And we help clients in all 50 states and I'm
excited to provide you this update today. So, let's talk about what's happening with
student visas OPT. USCIS announced a couple of days ago, flexibility, because they realize
that it’s their own fault in causing these delays and issue receipts has caused the ripple
effect and impacting a lot of people. In this case, we're talking about specifically international
students who are applying for their Optional Practical Training work permit, and that subject
to very strict conditions. And many, many, many students were impacted by this. Now,
remember, these flexibilities that I'm going to mention in this video, apply only two applications
that were filed after October 1, 2020, and before May 1, 2021. USCIS specifically admitted
that they experienced and continue to experience severe delays in issuing receipt notices.
This is due to the covid-19 pandemic, the fact that they are short-staffed, certain
budget issues, and other organizational problems directly at USCIS. So, as a result, they announced
the following flexibilities. So, as you know, F1 students are eligible to participate in
a one-year Optional Practical Training Program but the OPT must be completed within 14 months
from the end of their educational program. Because of the delays in the issuance of those
receipts, some student applicants, in fact, quite a few of them, will receive a short
amount of time for OPT during that 14-month period. So, instead of getting a one-year
work permit, some students were getting six months, several months, which obviously is
very difficult to not only find a job but also to be able to get established in the
place of work. If you have a very limited amount of time to be able to actually work
there legally, USCIS will allow the 14-month period to commence from the date of approval
of Form 765. This is the form that is used to obtain the EAD, the work card. So, by doing
so, instead of waiting for the time when the applicants actually file it and maybe wait
two or three months to get a receipt, the 14-month period will start only from the date
765 was approved, which will give them the full period of 12 months to be able to work.
All these changes are starting from this week. Now, remember, those students who received
an OPT card with less validity period because of the delays in the receipts are able to
contact USCIS and request a correction of their EAD card due to USCIS error. And they
should be able to process that at no cost. And what's going to happen is that USCIS is
going to issue a new EAD card with the full period of employment, which is going to be
for about up to one year. So, let's talk about refiling following the rejection of your OPT
application. As you know, applicants must file their OPT work permits within a certain
timeframe. There are cases that some students filed their applications on time but for whatever
reason, their cases were rejected. By the time they received the rejection notices,
they were way too late to refile. And this is what USCIS is going to do right now. If
your original application for OPT work permit was filed on or after October 1, 2020, all
the way through May 1, 2021, that's one condition, and USCIS ultimately rejected it for whatever
reason, those applicants can refile before May 31, 2021. And they'll be considered as
if they were timely filed. And finally, if you file your OPT EAD work permit application,
and you had a missing signature or deficient signature, typically, USCIS will completely
deny those applications but under the flexibility rules for students, instead of denying the
case, they just issue an RFE requesting you to send a better signature. So, these are
definitely great news for a lot of our students, viewers, and people that are stressed out
because nobody knew really what to do when you had to wait for receipt notice for eight
to 10 weeks, and then essentially getting your OPT approved with less time for you to
be able to work or start your career in the United States. So, we welcome USCIS flexibility
rules. If you're an international student, or if you know any international students,
make sure you share that video with them because this is really important information. But
once again, if you’re here for the first time, don't forget to subscribe to our channel.
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them in the comments below. If you want to talk to me one on one, schedule a consultation,
just text the phone number and we can set up a paid consultation to help you with your
case. Thanks for watching. I will see you in our next video.