Tag Archives: Request for Evidence

Are you an F1 visa student who has applied for the OPT EAD? In this guide, you will learn what to expect after mailing your OPT EAD application to USCIS, what to do after applying for your OPT EAD and how long to get USCIS receipt notice.

If you have successfully submitted your OPT application to USCIS, as discussed in this guide (How To Apply For OPT EAD), you might be wondering what are the next steps to follow after submitting your OPT. In this guide, you will learn what you can do and what to expect after you’ve applied for your OPT.

Note: After applying for OPT, you are not allowed to start working until you have received our EAD card and the “valid from” date on your EAD card has been reached.

What to do After Applying for OPT EAD with USCIS

1. Tracking Delivery of OPT EAD Application

The very first thing to do is to track the delivery status of your OPT application. If you’ve mailed your OPT application, you should have requested the tracking number from your career service provider.

With this tracking number, you should be able to track the confirmation of delivery of your OPT application to USCIS.

If you experience any delays with the delivery of your OPT application, you should quickly contact the customer service rep of your career service provider or USPS.

Once you’ve confirmed the delivery of your OPT application on your current service provider’s website, keep a copy of this delivery confirmation for your records.

If you’ve paid for the OPT application fee using your personal check, keep an eye out on your bank account records just to see if USCIS has processed your OPT application fee.

2. Await Receipt of Form I-797C

Once you’ve confirmed the delivery of your OPT application, the next step is to await the receipt of a form called the Form I-797C Notice of Action. This form will be sent by USCIS.

Typically, you can expect to receive this Form I 797 C in about four weeks, and in some cases it might take slightly longer than four weeks.

But nevertheless, you should not panic if you have not received your Form I-797C after four weeks of the confirmation of delivery of your OPT application.

Usually, if you’ve paid for your opt application fee using a personal check, you can tell that USCIS has pre-processed your OPT application. If your bank account records can show that your OPT application fee has been cashed by USCIS.

On the top left corner of Form I-797-C, you would find your receipt number and with this receipt number, you can track the status of your case on the USCIS case tracking website. Read this guide (4 BEST Ways to Track/Check Your USCIS Case Status Online) to know the full detail about the four best ways of tracking your case status with USCIS.

3. Await Notice of Approval and EAD Card

If you’re successful with your opt application on the Case Status tracking website, your case status will indicate that your OPT has been approved.

Next, USCIS will mail you a Form I 797 Notice of Approval, followed by your Employment Authorization Document card. This Form I 797 Notice of Approval, will arrive in the mail before you receive your EAD card.

Responding to a USCIS RFE

In the unfortunate circumstance that your OPT application requires more investigation by USCIS, USCIS will send you a letter called a Request for Evidence (RFE). On this Request for Evidence, USCIS will explicitly define what documents you need to provide in order for your case to be adjudicated.

If you received a request for evidence from USCIS, make sure to contact your school’s international office as soon as possible, to proceed with next steps.

It is very important that when you respond to an RFE, make sure to submit all the requested documents by USCIS in a single mail.

4. Submitting Copies of EAD Card to your DSO

Finally, once you’ve received your ID card in the mail, make sure that information listed on the EAD Card is correct. And once that’s correct, make a copy of the front and back of the ID card and send that to your school’s international office.

You should also note that you’re not allowed to start working on OPT until the start date listed on your ID card is “Current”. Failing to do so will result in you violating your OPT status and your OPT could be terminated.

Those are what to do After Applying for OPT EAD with USCIS.

Frequent Questions About OPT EAD and Answers

Question: After getting your EAD and signing a job contract, who do you send your offer letter to?

Answer: For the OPT, you are only required to report your employment to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Usually, there is no obligation here to show your offer letter for confirmation. You simply state the employer name, address, job role, and pay for your employment.

DISCLAIMER: This guide and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. The information in this guide should not be construed to be formal legal advice. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.

You’ve just gone through the stress of submitting your I-765 application for your OPT or your STEM-OPT EAD (Employment Authorization Document), and after several weeks of waiting for a response from USCIS, you check the status of your case and you see an update that says that you’ve received a “Request For Evidence” (RFE) from USCIS. That is a disappointing or unpleasant situation.

What To Do If You Receive an RFE on F-1 OPT EAD Application

This guide will cover the following things:

• In this guide, we are going to be discussing some of the common reasons why F1 students applying for the OPT or STEM-OPT might receive an RFE from USCIS, what you could do to prevent it, and how to respond to an RFE if you receive one.
• If you’ve received an RFE from USCIS on your OPT or your STEM-OPT application, in this educative guide, you’re going to get some helpful tips that you can follow when responding to your RFE.
• On the other hand, if you’re an advance student who has yet to apply for your OPT, below in this guide, you’re going to get some helpful tips that you can follow to reduce your chances of receiving an RFE.

What is Request for Evidence (RFE) and what does this document look like?

The Request for Evidence (RFE) is a document issued by USCIS whenever USCIS needs some extra information from you in order to process your immigration case.

If you check the status of your case in the USCIS Case Tracking Tool, you will see a status update that says that an RFE has been issued and mailed to you. When you get this letter in the mail, it’s going to have a list of issues that USCIS need you to address in order for the application to be adjudicated.

One of the most important sections of the Request for Evidence (RFE) is the deadline to respond to the RFE, that’s normally contained within the second paragraph on the RFE. You should take a note of this date and ensure that your response to the RFE is received by USCIS before this date is reached.

The main downside of receiving the RFE is that the processing of your OPT or your STEM-OPT application is going to be suspended until USCIS receives your response, and this essentially prolongs the total processing time of your OPT or your STEM-OPT application.

If you’ve got an RFE, you should breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you have a second opportunity to put together a strong application for your OPT or your STEM-OPT application.

Just because you got an RFE does not mean that your initial application is going to be denied. If that were to be the case, USCIS would send you a letter called a “Notice of Intent to Deny”, which is much more difficult to overcome relative to the RFE.

One of the good things about the RFE, if you can say so, is that USCIS would explicitly tell you what documents you need to provide in order for your application to be processed.

And if you can successfully provide the evidence that’s required by USCIS, then you have a higher likelihood of getting your application approved.

Common reasons for receiving a USCIS Request for Evidence (RFE) on the I-765 application for OPT or STEM-OPT

Below are some of the common reasons why F1 students applying for the OPT or the STEM-OPT might receive an RFE from USCIS. Some of these reasons are not particularly obvious.

1. Passport Photo Issues

The first reason why you might receive an OPT RFE on your OPT application or your STEM-OPT application has to do with not meeting the right requirements for your passport photograph.

The passport photograph that’s taken to support your OPT application needs to be a two inch by two inch colored passport photograph, taken against a white background. This photograph must show a clear image of your face and it should not be photo edited by any means.

If you like to see the correct specifications for your passport photograph used to support your OPT application, visit the U.S Department of State website that explicitly specifies the requirements you must meet for your passport photograph to be accepted.

Another common reason for an OPT RFE could happen when you use a passport photograph that you’ve used on a previous immigration case.

For example, an F1 student who has applied for the 24 months DEMO-OPT extension using the same passport photograph on the initial post Completion OPT application might receive an RFE from USCIS because this would imply that the passport photograph does not meet the six month requirements specified by USCIS.

There is an obvious reason why you could prevent receiving an RFE by making sure that your passport photograph meets all the requirements specified by USCIS. It’s highly recommend that when getting a passport for your OPT or your STEM-OPT application, you should consider getting this done professionally or semi-professionally.

2. Missing Documents

The second common reason for the OPT RFE is forgetting to provide supporting documents for your OPT application or your STEM-OPT application, respectively.

For example, an F1 student applying for the STEM-OPT extension will be required to provide supporting documents, such as copies of the previous EAD card that was issued for the post completion OPT.

Failing to provide any of these supporting documents could easily lead to an OPT RFE, thereby delaying the length of time it’s going to take you to obtain your EAD card.

If you’re going to be applying for your post completion OPT, you can check [HERE] to a free downloadable PDF checklist that keeps you on track to provide all the required supporting documents when applying for your post completion OPT.

3. Errors on Form I-20

The third common reason for an OPT RFE is when there are errors on your I-20 endorse for OPT or STEM-OPT by your Designated School Official (DSO). Yes, your designated school official is capable of making mistakes just like anybody else, and that’s why when applying for the OPT, you will need to make sure that you thoroughly review I-20 issued by your DSO, ensuring that there are no inconsistencies.

And if you find any inconsistencies on your I-20, make sure to bring this to the attention of your designated official before submitting a copy of your I-20 as part of your application package.

The thing about requests for evidence issued by USCIS is that they are highly subjective. For example, you can have two applicants applying for the OPT using the exact same documentation, and one applicant receives an RFE while the other applicant does not get an RFE.

So while you might not be able to guarantee with 100% certainty that you’re not going to get an RFE, by following these tips, you can significantly reduce your chances of getting an RFE.

4. Wrong Employer Info

The fourth reason for an OPT RFE commonly occurs when F1 students are applying for the 24 month DEMO-OPT extension. What’s important about the STEM option is that unlike the initial post completion OPT where you don’t provide any information about your employer, in the case of the STEM-OPT, you’re going to be providing detailed information about your employer on the Form I-98320 Plan and also on the Form I-765.

One major mistake advertisers to make when applying for the 24 months DEMO-OPT Extension is using the incorrect name for the employer.

Most employers operate with DBA names, where DBA stands for “Doing Business As” and commonly these names are different from the actual legal name of the employer.

Another mistake here is that when F1 students are applying for the STEM-OPT Extension, they might use an incorrect E-Verify number for the employer. Without the correct name and E-Verify number of your employer, USCIS would be unable to determine if your employer is enrolled in the E-Verify program and would issue a request for evidence.

So to reduce your chances of receiving an OPT RFE for this reason, you should contact the Human Resource Department of your employer and request that they provide you with the correct evaluation E-Verify number and the correct legal name of the employer.

5. OPT Reporting Issues

The fifth common and surprising reason why F1 students might receive an OPT RFE is when there are inconsistencies in your reported employment to the Department of Homeland Security.

If during the course of your STEM-OPT extension, USCIS find inconsistencies in your reported OPT employment, an RFE could be issued on your I-765 application.

When you engage in Optional Practical Training (OPT) you’re required to report any changes in your employment to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Some examples of changes in your employment that you should be reporting are things like when you lose your job or you gain a new job, or when you change from one employer to the other.

If the Student in Action Register Program finds out that there are certain inconsistencies in your employment record, they might issue a request for evidence to make sure that you’ve not violated your status during the course of your OPT.

While the OPT or STEM-OPT RFE is a bummer, it sure does not mean that your application will be rejected. The silver lining here is that you get a 2nd shot to provide a water-tight application to USCIS. Thereby increasing your chances of receiving an approval on your I-765 application.

How to respond to an RFE

The first thing you need to do is to read and understand the reason why the OPT RFE was issued in the first place. And if this doesn’t make sense to you, you should reach out to your school’s designated school official and ask for clarification.

When responding to an RFE, you need to make sure that all the evidence you provide should be included in one single package and mailed to USCIS at the exact same time.

You are also required to submit this original RFE letter alongside the rest of your other supporting documents to USCIS. This original RFE letter should be the first page on the packets that you’re going to be mailing to USCIS.

Before sending this original RFE letter, it’s best to make a copy for your record. Also, when mailing your response to the OPT RFE, you should request a confirmation of delivery from your mailing service provider.

This way, you can track the status of your delivery and guarantee that you have an evidence to show that your OPT RFE response was delivered to USCIS in a timely fashion.

OPT RFE Processing Timeline

You will definitely like to know how long it takes for USCIS to process your response to your OPT RFE.

Usually, USCIS would state in your OPT RFE letter, the length of time that you can expect your OPT application to be processed after they have received your OPT RFE response and if your OPT application is not processed within this time frame, you may contact USCIS and request that they expedite the processing of your OPT application.

I hope you found this information helpful.

DISCLAIMER: This guide and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. The information presented in this guide should not be construed to be formal legal advice. If you need legal advice, you may contact a licensed attorney.