15 students are arrested; OPT reporting requirement

15 international students, who fail to meet the OPT reporting requirement by falsely reporting the employer, got arrested, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Among 15 students, 11 are Indian nationals, two are Libyan nationals, one is Senegalese national and the other one is a Bangladeshi national.

OPT participants whose OPT requests are successfully approved have responsibilities required by immigration regulation, and one of them is reporting. The OPT reporting requirement falls under students’ responsibilities although DSOs (Designated School Officials) might come in to ensure that students are compliant with the regulations. Therefore, if you are in OPT or if you are going to apply for OPT, please have a thorough look at the blog which is going to summarize the OPT reporting requirement. This will help you to not encounter unnecessary judiciary incidents.

Contents

• OPT reporting requirements
• 15 arrested students

OPT reporting requirements

SEVP portal update

There are two important OPT reporting requirements. First, when students find a job through OPT, they should update their employer information through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) Portal. If students find issues with the portal, they can reach out to DSOs (Designated School Officials) and DSO can submit the information on behalf of them. Updating the SEVP portal is crucial as it is how SEVIS counts the total number of unemployed days. Although the student didn’t accrue the 90 days of unemployment days, if he or she doesn’t update the portal, the SEVIS record will automatically be terminated. This can also impact the student’s future immigration benefits.

Below are references from USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) regarding the portal update:

Aliens in F-1 nonimmigrant status may update their employer information through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) Portal, a tool that allows F and M aliens participating in post‑completion practical training to report accurate and timely information directly to SEVP. DSOs may update the information in SEVIS following the instructions to add, edit, or delete the OPT employer.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

SEVIS will count each day without employer information toward the total number of unemployment days allowed. Failure to update employer information in SEVIS to reflect that the alien is employed may result in any or all of the following actions:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

• The alien exceeding unemployment limits and therefore failing to maintain F-1 nonimmigrant status, rendering them removable, unless they are otherwise in a period of authorized stay;
• SEVP setting an alien’s SEVIS record to “terminated” if they have exceeded unemployment limits;
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) initiating revocation proceedings for an alien’s Employment Authorization Document if they have exceeded unemployment limits; and
• The exceeded unemployment limits negatively affecting the alien’s future benefit requests filed with USCIS.

For more information about the SEVP Portal, including step-by-step instructions and videos, visit the SEVP Portal Help section on the Department of Homeland Security Study in the States website. See the Unemployment Counter page on the SEVIS Help Hub for information about SEVIS unemployment calculations.

Student’s information update

The second responsibility of OPT participants is that they need to let DSO know of the changes in their name, address, phone number, and so on within 10 days. Then, DSO needs to update the SEVIS record within 21 days. As this requirement applies to the F students as well, it is more like extended responsibility for non-immigrant student visa holders, rather than the OPT-specific-rule.

The regulations require a student to report “any change of name or address, or interruption of such employment to the DSO for the duration of the authorized training,” and for the DSO “to reflect these reported changes for the duration of the time that training is authorized.”

ICE OPT Enforcement Actions

15 arrested students

Within ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)- Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit (CTCEU) investigated the overstay issues of non-immigrants since 2017 which resulted in the arrest of 15 nonimmigrant students. This investigation is called Operation OPTical Illusion, “a law enforcement operation targeting nonimmigrant students who fraudulently used the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program to remain in the United States”.

The agency will continue to vet students who gained new employment through OPT for compliance with their nonimmigrant status. Any identified leads will be reviewed for potential future enforcement.

ICE arrests 15 nonimmigrant students for OPT-related fraud

The other project also found that 1100 out of 3300 students were identified by ICE as being “here out of status,” according to NAFSA’s ICE OPT Enforcement Actions.

Of those 1100, 700 have now been sent letters notifying them that their “work permits are going to be revoked,” and 400 of which are so close to the end of their OPT that their EADs will not be revoked.

ICE OPT Enforcement Actions

The bottom line is when you are participating in OPT, reporting and maintaining valid visa status is important. Do not take it lightly as it can cause serious judiciary actions. In my next blog post, I will discuss what are the options that F visa holders have to remain in the United States legally when they fail to find any employment.

Related blog post 1: 7 Require documents for OPT Application
Related blog post 2: Must-know 4 eligibility for student visa OPT
Related blog post 3: I haven’t received my EAD; OPT EAD processing time
Related blog post 4: All about EAD card; EAD address change, late delivery