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US STEM OPT still gives up to 3 years of work. The wait is the interview slot
You get 12 months of Optional Practical Training after you graduate, plus 24 more months if your course is on the STEM list. Then you enter the H-1B lottery. The structure is intact. The queue is not 2019.
Tuesday, 25 August 2026 · USCIS · 5 min read
Optional Practical Training (OPT) still gives 12 months of work in a job related to your degree. If your course is on the US government’s STEM list, you can add 24 months. That 36-month window is still the main path that gives an Indian F-1 graduate two or three tries at the H-1B lottery. Non-STEM graduates usually get one try. This arithmetic has not changed. It is why a computer-science or data-science course is a visa choice, not just a fashion.
What has changed is the friction. STEM OPT now needs clearer proof that the job trains you. F-1 interview slots in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai have run long in this cycle — often around three months. Start the DS-160 the week the I-20 arrives. If you file H-1B on time, cap-gap can keep you legal until 1 October. Unemployment clocks still apply: 90 days on regular OPT, 150 days in total once you are on STEM OPT.
What this means: India’s Ministry of External Affairs currently lists the United States as “exercise caution”. That is not a visa refusal. It is a safety line. A cost model that only shows a Bay Area salary, and never the “OPT then return to Pune” case, is incomplete. Plan both outcomes before you pay the deposit.
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Visa rules, fees and rankings change. This is news, not legal advice and not an offer of admission. Always check the official page linked above before you pay a deposit or file a form.