To complete Form I-983, you and your employer fill out the STEM OPT training plan together: you handle Sections 1 and 2, your employer handles Sections 3 through 5, and both of you sign. Once it’s done, you submit the form to your school’s Designated School Official, not to USCIS or ICE. The DSO reviews the training plan, and if it passes review, issues a new I-20 recommending the 24-month STEM OPT extension. Only then do you file the extension application itself with USCIS.
Most rejections happen at the DSO stage, and almost always for the same reason: a training plan that’s too generic to show how the job connects to the student’s STEM degree. The mechanics of the form are straightforward. The training plan takes real thought.
Before You Start
Three conditions have to be true before the form is worth filling out. You must currently hold valid post-completion OPT employment authorization. Your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify with a valid company identification number and be a participant in good standing. And your qualifying degree must appear on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List, come from an accredited, SEVP-certified U.S. institution, and be a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree.
The STEM degree does not have to be the one your current OPT is based on. If your current OPT was granted on a non-STEM degree but you previously earned a qualifying STEM degree from an accredited U.S. school, you can still apply, provided the job relates to that earlier degree. You can file up to 90 days before your current OPT expires, and the extension is available once per degree level, so a later, higher STEM degree can open the door to a second 24-month extension.
Where to Get the Current Form
Download Form I-983 directly from the ICE website at ice.gov. It’s a fillable PDF, so you can type into it before printing. Confirm you’re working from the most current edition — a DSO will reject an outdated version, and the official instructions live as a separate PDF on the same page.
Filling Out the Student Sections
Sections 1 and 2 are yours.
Section 1 asks for your personal information. Enter your full legal name exactly as it appears on your current Form I-20, surname first and then given name. Fill in your SEVIS ID number, which starts with the letter N followed by ten digits and is printed on your I-20. Add your email address.
Section 2 asks about your most recent qualifying STEM degree: the degree level, the major, and the name of the school that conferred it.
Before you send anything to your employer, check the spelling of your name and your SEVIS number against your I-20. Even a small mismatch delays processing, because the form has to align with your SEVIS record.
Filling Out the Employer Sections
Your employer fills out Sections 3 through 5. In practice you’ll coordinate closely with HR or your supervisor, because Section 5 needs input from both of you.
Section 3: Employer Information
The employer enters the company’s legal name, its Employer Identification Number (the federal tax ID), and its address. The form also asks for the company’s North American Industry Classification System code, which identifies the business’s economic sector. If nobody at the company knows the NAICS code, the Census Bureau’s online lookup tool can find it from a description of the business activity. The employer’s website URL and the name and contact information of the official signing the form go here too.
One detail matters more than it looks: list the physical address where you will actually perform your training, even if it differs from corporate headquarters. If you’ll train at more than one site, identify each one. Federal officers use this address to verify the arrangement, so a wrong or stale address creates real compliance risk down the line.
Section 5: The Training Plan
This is the section that gets scrutinized. Section 5 asks for a narrative description of your role, the goals and objectives of the training, and how your employer will supervise and measure your progress.
Generic phrasing like “the student will learn engineering skills” will not clear DSO review. Tie your goals to concrete work: the programming languages you’ll use, the lab equipment you’ll operate, the analytical methods you’ll apply, the research questions you’ll investigate. Then show how each of those activities connects directly to your STEM degree field. The form asks you to describe specific skills, knowledge, and techniques you will apply or develop; take that request literally.
The supervision piece is just as important. Name your supervisor. Describe the feedback mechanism you’ll actually use: weekly one-on-ones, project reviews, performance benchmarks. The regulation requires on-site supervision and training from experienced and knowledgeable staff, so spell out who those people are and what they’ll do.
What the Employer Is Signing
Section 4 is the employer’s signature block. Signing it commits the company to a set of binding attestations under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C), and DHS can audit them.
- Hiring you will not displace a full-time, part-time, temporary, or permanent U.S. worker.
- Your pay, hours, and duties are commensurate with those of similarly situated U.S. workers, meaning workers at the company with comparable education, experience, responsibilities, and skills. If the employer has fewer than three such workers, the comparison shifts to what other companies of similar size and industry in the same geographic area pay for equivalent roles.
- The training opportunity involves at least 20 hours of work per week.
- If you leave or are terminated before the extension ends, the employer will notify your DSO within five business days.
- The employer will follow applicable federal and state employment requirements and will notify the DSO of any material changes to the training plan.
The wage attestation has an evidentiary tail. DHS may ask, during a site visit, to see the documentation the employer used to compare your compensation to similarly situated U.S. workers. That wage analysis needs to exist on file before the form is signed, not after.
Signing and Submitting to Your DSO
Once both signatures are on the form, you bring it to your school’s Designated School Official. You do not send it to USCIS or ICE. The DSO is your only submission point.
Every school runs intake differently. Many universities accept the form through a secure online portal; some require encrypted email or an in-person appointment. Check your international student office’s website for its specific process before you send anything.
The DSO reviews the training plan against federal requirements. If the plan is too vague, the duties don’t line up with your STEM field, or required fields are missing, the form comes back to you for revisions. Once the DSO is satisfied, they recommend the STEM OPT extension in SEVIS and issue you a new I-20 with the recommendation noted on it.
After the DSO Signs Off: Filing With USCIS
The I-983 itself never goes to USCIS. What goes to USCIS is Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, which is how you formally request the 24-month extension. You have to file the I-765 within 60 days of the date your DSO enters the recommendation in SEVIS, and no earlier than 90 days before your current OPT employment authorization expires.
File on time and there’s a useful safety net. If your current OPT expires while USCIS is still processing the extension, your work authorization continues automatically for up to 180 days while you wait for a decision. That automatic extension ends the moment USCIS adjudicates the application, whether the answer is approval or denial. Check the current I-765 filing fee on the USCIS fee schedule page, because the amount has changed in recent years.
What You Still Owe on the Form After Approval
Submitting the I-983 is not the end of it. The form carries ongoing obligations, and missing them can put your status at risk.
Annual and Final Self-Evaluations
Page 5 of the I-983 contains two evaluation sections. The first, titled “Evaluation on Student Progress,” is due within 12 months of your STEM OPT start date. You write a self-assessment of your progress toward the goals in the original training plan, including specific accomplishments, projects, and new skills. Your employer reviews and countersigns it.
The second, the “Final Evaluation on Student Progress,” is due at the end of the 24-month extension. If your employment ends early for any reason, including a voluntary job change, you complete the final evaluation at that point instead. Both evaluations have to reach your DSO no later than 10 days after the end of the reporting period. Missing that deadline is treated as a violation of the I-983’s terms.
Material Changes
If something significant about your training arrangement changes, you and your employer submit a modified I-983 to your DSO within 10 days. Material changes include a change in the employer’s EIN because of corporate restructuring, a reduction in your compensation that isn’t tied to a reduction in hours, a significant decrease in your weekly hours, any drop below the 20-hour-per-week minimum, and any changes to the learning objectives or employer commitments in the plan. As long as the modified plan meets the regulatory requirements, your employment authorization keeps running.
Changing Employers
Switching jobs during the extension requires three steps. Submit your final self-evaluation for the departing employer within 10 days of your last day. Confirm the new employer is enrolled in E-Verify before you start work. And submit a completely new, fully signed I-983 to your DSO within 10 days of starting the new position. If more than 10 days pass between jobs, report the loss of employment to your DSO first.
Every 6 months you’ll also check in with your DSO to confirm that your SEVIS record reflects your current legal name, home address, employer name and address, and employment status. Any change to any of that information has to be reported within 10 days regardless of where you are in the six-month cycle.