Status · F-1: OPT
Self-employment on STEM OPT, read line by line
OPT and STEM OPT are not the same permission. Most students learn the difference after choosing. Two things have also moved since this page was first written: a rule on how long an F-1 student may stay, and the way H-1B selection treats a low wage.
published 14 July 2026 · checked 3 October 2026
The gap, named · our reading of the rule
Standard post-completion OPT allows self-employment directly related to a field of study. However, students mistakenly assume this extends into the 24-month STEM OPT extension, which requires a formal training relationship with a distinct employer.
The Regulatory Framework
Under 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C), STEM OPT requires an E-Verify enrolled employer and a Form I-983 Training Plan. SEVP guidance specifies that a student cannot sign Form I-983 as both the employer supervisor and the employee, preventing solo self-employment.
Unemployment limits apply to both. OPT carries an unemployment limit of 90 days on post-completion OPT, and 150 days across OPT plus STEM OPT combined (SEVIS Help Hub, unemployment counter). How the time of a student-owned startup is counted is a question for your designated school official (DSO).
CPT is a different permission again. Your school's designated school official authorises Curricular Practical Training (CPT), only for training your curriculum requires, through an employer that has a cooperative agreement with your school (8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(i)). It is a school authorisation with no USCIS filing, so it has no filing window. No rule we have read provides for CPT in a company you own, so that is a question for your DSO and your attorney. Twelve months or more of full-time CPT ends eligibility for post-completion OPT. Since August 2026 SEVP guidance, which is not a rule, tells schools to approve CPT only where every student in the program must do it (SEVP broadcast message 2608-02, 24 August 2026, and 2608-01, 12 August 2026).
What has moved
- F-1 duration of status: FINAL rule, POSTPONED by court order. A final rule published 17 July 2026 (effective date 15 September 2026) fixes admission to the I-20 program for a maximum of 4 years, cuts the post-program departure grace period from 60 days to 30, and requires OPT and STEM OPT students to obtain an extension of stay from USCIS. On 14 September 2026 the federal court in Massachusetts postponed the rule's effective date nationwide (5 U.S.C. § 705, Presidents' Alliance v. DHS), and the government appealed on 1 October 2026. Duration of status continues for now. That is FACT: we read the court's order on 3 October 2026 (Memorandum and Order). The eCFR shows the new text as if it were in force, and it does not reflect the court order. The Study in the States pages we read do not mention the order yet. It can change on appeal. (FR Doc 2026-14439 · Study in the States.)
- OPT filing fee: NOT PUBLISHED. A rule was sent to the Office of Management and Budget on 20 August 2026. Press reports of a large OPT fee are a hypothesis until a proposed rule appears. Current I-765 fees are unchanged.
- Cap-gap to 1 April: FINAL. Under the January 2025 modernization rule (89 FR 103054, in force since 17 January 2025), F-1 students moving to H-1B are covered until 1 April, later than the old 1 October date.
- H-1B selection is wage-weighted: FINAL, effective 27 February 2026. A Level IV wage gets four entries and a Level I wage gets one. A startup that pays its owner a Level I wage gets one entry. (FR Doc 2025-23853.)
- $103,265 fee on cap-subject H-1B petitions: PROPOSED, 25 August 2026. Not law.
How entrepreneurs prepare for this conversation
- Step 1: Leverage Standard OPT for Launch. Maximize the initial 12-month post-completion OPT window for active self-employed startup building, and track the unemployment days with your DSO.
- Step 2: Bring the STEM OPT employer question to your DSO and your attorney. Whether a student-owned startup has a bona fide employer relationship for STEM OPT depends on the facts, and that is a question for your DSO and your own attorney. This page does not answer it. What the regulation requires is an E-Verify enrolled employer and a Form I-983 that the student does not sign as both supervisor and employee.
- Step 3: Read the next-status options early. O-1A has no cap or lottery (see the O-1 piece). The H-1B cap is wage-weighted, and the $103,265 fee is proposed. E-2 requires treaty nationality, and India is not an E-2 treaty country (State Department treaty-country list, which we did not re-read on 2 October 2026), so see the E-2 piece before building a plan around it.
Attorney and DSO Interrogation Sheet (What to Ask)
- Does my company's managerial structure satisfy SEVP supervision rules on Form I-983? (Your DSO and attorney answer this. We do not.)
- What alternative entrepreneur visa routes should I pursue before standard OPT expires?
- If the court's postponement of the F-1 duration-of-status rule is lifted on appeal, what changes for my OPT or STEM OPT dates?
- With wage-weighted selection, what wage level would my company register me at, and what does that mean for the entries I get?
Status of pending rules · checked 2 and 3 October 2026
Rules in these lanes are moving in weeks, not years. Each line below names the instrument, its stage and its date. The stage words mean: FINAL (published, and in force unless a court has stopped it), PROPOSED (published for comment, not law), EXTENDED (renewed by a new proclamation), ENJOINED or BLOCKED (a court has paused it or stopped its enforcement), POSTPONED (a court has delayed the date a rule takes effect), VACATED (a court has set it aside), NOT PUBLISHED (reported, with no text to read). Two of these, the student admission rule and the $100,000 fee, can change again on appeal within weeks. Rows 1, 2, 4, 5 and 13 were re-read on 3 October 2026, and the other rows on 2 October 2026. This is education about where each rule stands. Whether any of it reaches your situation is a question for your own attorney.
| # | Rule | Stage and date | What it does | How sure we are |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $103,265 fee on cap-subject H-1B petitions | PROPOSED. Notice of proposed rulemaking, 25 August 2026. Comments closed 24 September 2026. | Would add a fee of $103,265 to cap-subject H-1B petitions. The proposal has no small-employer exemption. It excludes higher-education and nonprofit research petitioners. It is not law. FR Doc 2026-17324 | FACT |
| 2 | $100,000 H-1B restriction | VACATED (implementing guidance), 8 June 2026, State of California v. Mullin (D. Mass.). The First Circuit denied a stay on 24 July 2026, and the appeal is pending (No. 26-1699). EXTENDED by Proclamation 11069, signed 18 September 2026, effective 21 September 2026, to 21 September 2027. BLOCKED again, as reported: on 30 September 2026 a second court (N.D. Cal., Global Nurse Force v. Trump) is reported to have blocked enforcement under both proclamations. | USCIS says it will comply with the vacatur, so the $100,000 is not being collected today. The original restriction was Proclamation 10973 of 19 September 2025. USCIS H-1B FAQ (read 3 October 2026) · FR Doc 2026-19554 · plaintiffs' counsel announcement of the 30 September order | FACT that it is not being collected today. OBSERVATION on the 30 September order: our sources are the plaintiffs' counsel and one analytics summary, we have not read the order, and its scope is UNKNOWN. |
| 3 | H-1B program-integrity executive order | FINAL (executive order), 18 September 2026. | Directs State, Labor and DHS to weigh an employer's recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated U.S. workers when petitions are reviewed. Implementing guidance has not been published as far as we can find. White House fact sheet | FACT on the order. UNKNOWN on guidance. |
| 4 | F-1 duration of status: fixed admission period | FINAL rule published 17 July 2026 (91 FR 45124), effective date 15 September 2026. POSTPONED by court order. On 14 September 2026 the federal court in Massachusetts postponed the rule's effective date nationwide (5 U.S.C. § 705, Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. DHS). The government appealed on 1 October 2026 (First Circuit No. 26-2112). Duration of status continues for now. | If the rule takes effect: admission is fixed to the I-20 program with a maximum of 4 years. The departure grace period falls from 60 to 30 days. OPT and STEM OPT require a USCIS extension of stay. The eCFR shows the new text as if it were in force. It does not reflect the court order. FR Doc 2026-14439 · Study in the States · Memorandum and Order, 14 September 2026 | FACT. We read the order itself on 3 October 2026. No DHS or Study in the States page we read yet mentions it, so a school page may still show the rule as coming. |
| 5 | OPT fee rule | NOT PUBLISHED. Sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review on 20 August 2026. | Press reports describe a large OPT filing fee. Until a proposed rule appears, those reports are a hypothesis. Current I-765 fees are unchanged. | OBSERVATION (university international office). Press figures are HYPOTHESIS. We found no proposed rule in the Federal Register as of 3 October 2026. |
| 6 | H-4 EAD rescission | On the federal Unified Agenda as a long-term action, RIN 1615-AD14. No proposed rule. No date. | Would remove H-4 spouses from the classes eligible for work authorization. It is not law. | OBSERVATION (law-firm reporting) |
| 7 | Wage-weighted H-1B selection | FINAL. Published 29 December 2025, effective 27 February 2026. Used for the FY2027 registration, 4 to 19 March 2026. | A Level IV wage level gets four entries in the selection lottery and Level I gets one. A company that registers its owner at a Level I wage gets one entry. FR Doc 2025-23853 | FACT. No business challenge was filed before FY2027 selection (OBSERVATION). |
| 8 | Department of Labor prevailing-wage overhaul | PROPOSED. 27 March 2026. | Would raise Level I from the 17th to the 34th percentile and Level IV from the 67th to the 88th. It is not final. FR Doc 2026-06017 | FACT |
| 9 | End of automatic EAD extensions | FINAL (interim final rule), in force since 30 October 2025. 90 FR 48799. | For renewals filed on or after 30 October 2025, an expiring work-authorization card is no longer extended automatically, H-4 included. Extensions already granted on renewals filed before that date are unaffected. FR Doc 2025-19702 | FACT |
| 10 | Online-presence review for H-1B and H-4 visa applicants | State Department policy since 15 December 2025. It applied to F, M and J applicants from June 2025. | Applicants are expected to make social media settings public. | OBSERVATION (secondary reporting). We did not re-read the State Department announcement on 2 or 3 October 2026. |
| 11 | Cap-gap extended to 1 April | FINAL. Part of the January 2025 modernization rule, 89 FR 103054, in force since 17 January 2025. | F-1 students moving to H-1B are covered until 1 April, which is later than the old 1 October date. FR Doc 2024-29354 | FACT |
| 12 | $250 visa integrity fee | Enacted 4 July 2025 (Public Law 119-21). Not yet collected. | A fee created by statute. The date it starts being collected is UNKNOWN. | FACT on enactment. UNKNOWN on start date. |
| 13 | 60-day grace period for workers | PROPOSED. Published 11 September 2026 (91 FR 57807). Comments close 10 November 2026. | Would remove 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2), the grace period of up to 60 days after a job ends, for H-1B, E-3, L-1, O-1 and TN workers and others, and for their dependents. It is not law. FR Doc 2026-18631 | FACT |
If a date here is older than the news, the news wins. Check the linked source, then take the question to your attorney.
What this is not This piece quotes the published rule and says plainly where we are reading it rather than quoting it. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice, it creates no attorney–client relationship, and neither you nor we can apply it to your facts. Rules also move — check the date above, then take the questions in this piece to your own licensed attorney and CPA, who are the only people who can advise you.
Sources · primary law first, our own notes labelled as such
8 CFR 214.2(f)(10): practical training regulations. Check the text in force on the day you read it. The eCFR prints the fixed-period text of 8 CFR 214.2(f) as if it had been in force since 15 September 2026, and a court has postponed it.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(i): curricular practical training. Read 3 October 2026.
SEVP broadcast message 2608-02, 24 August 2026, and 2608-01, 12 August 2026: CPT guidance for designated school officials. Read 3 October 2026.
SEVIS Help Hub: F-1 CPT, updated 24 August 2026. Read 3 October 2026.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C): STEM extension requirements.
SEVP Policy Guidance 1004-03 (2010, standing). Read 2 October 2026.
SEVIS Help Hub: unemployment counter. Read 2 October 2026.
Study in the States: STEM OPT extension overview. Read 2 October 2026.
FR Doc 2026-14439: F-1 fixed period of admission, 17 July 2026.
FR Doc 2025-23853: weighted selection, 29 December 2025.
Ownership and work authorisation are treated differently in the rules, and that difference is what this library is about. Everything here is written for people keeping the job that holds their status.
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