Overview

This KB article describes how to report employment participation for STEM OPT participants via the SEVIS batch action.

F-1 students participating in post-completion STEM OPT must report their employer updates. This article describes how to report OPT employment participation for STEM OPT participants via a SEVIS batch update in Terra Dotta. SEVIS requires that the F-1 graduate be currently on an active STEM OPT extension with SEVIS-adjudicated dates. 

Important: SEVIS will only allow reporting one time per each reporting period. The employer participation reporting windows are 30 days before and after the 6, 12, and 18-month marks from the STEM start date.

Reporting OPT Employment Participation via SEVIS Batch

After you complete reporting the employer participation on behalf of the student in SEVIS, you must enter a date in the 6, 12, or 18-month reporting QI in the STEM record. This functionality is not automated at this time.

Steps to report OPT employment participation for STEM OPT participants via the SEVIS batch:

1. Locate your student on STEM OPT. Confirm they are currently on a STEM extension, with SEVIS-adjudicated dates.
2. Navigate to SEVIS Profile
3. Click to add a SEVIS Update Record
4. Add OPT Employment: Report Participation record
5. Select STEM record from the left side of modal
6. Select OPT Employer record from the right side of modal
7. Action option: STEM OPT Employment: Report Participation
8. Confirm that the record successfully verifies.
   • Important: the required logic the action to pass internal Terra Dotta verification is as follows: An active SEVIS record, within the current reporting window, that has NOT been reported already and updated in SEVIS.
9. Navigate to Pending Updates page
10. Select record and place in batch
11. Navigate to Batch Uploads page and upload batch to SEVIS

Note that in the Record Selection step of this process, you need to select just the STEM OPT Extension record. No other record needs to be selected for the successful processing of this update. Terra Dotta will automatically link the records in the background.