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F-1 OPT Reporting

How to report

To manage your required reporting, you will need to activate your SEVP Portal account. The SEVP Portal is a tool that allows F-1 students on OPT to report required residential and employment information to the government. Study in the States offers detailed instructions and tips for using the SEVP Portal.

You will also be able to satisfy some reporting requirements during OPT with the forms available in URcompass: Post-Completion Reporting. You will need to use your UR Microsoft Entra ID login for URcompass. All students who remain under our immigration sponsorship while on OPT are able to and need to continue to use their UR Microsoft Entra ID login. Please be sure you are using DUO authentication, and contact University IT for help with your Microsoft Entra ID/VPN if needed.

If you are not able to change your password for Entra ID with the instructions provided, call the IT Help Desk (+1-585-275-2000, Option 5) to request a password reset. During the call, identify yourself as a graduated international student with ISO on OPT and be prepared to verify your Identity using your phone. If University IT is not able to help you during the call, please ask for a ticket number.

Creating an SEVP Portal account

You will receive instructions about creating an SEVP Portal account in an email from do-not-reply.SEVP@ice.dhs.gov. SEVP will send this email to you on or soon after the first day of your approved OPT period (as listed on your EAD).

If you do not receive any email from SEVP on the first day of your OPT period, please check your spam, junk, and clutter folders over the following few days. If you can’t find the email, please submit the Request SEVP Portal Email Reset/Change form.

You must follow the instructions in the email to create your account immediately, even if you do not have any changes to report. The account creation instructions will expire after a certain amount of time.

Updating information in the SEVP Portal

Once you have created an SEVP Portal account, you can access the portal any time during your OPT. It is recommended that you regularly log in to the portal to check that your reported details remain current and accurate at all times.

If you need to change the email address you use to access your SEVP Portal account, please submit the Request SEVP Portal Email Reset/Change form. Please keep in mind that the email address you use to login to your SEVP Portal account is also the primary email ISO will use to communicate with you during your OPT authorization period. If you are currently using a school email that will be deactivated by University IT, you may want to request the update to this email address sooner rather than later.

SEVP Portal Help

If you are locked out of your SEVP Portal account, submit the Request SEVP Portal Email Reset/Change form. Beyond triggering a reset link, ISO cannot provide technical support for the SEVP Portal. Study in the States includes troubleshooting tips and SEVP contact information if needed.

There may be changes that you can’t make yourself in the SEVP Portal. In those instances, please use the relevant ISO reporting form so we can do the reporting for you:

  • F-1 OPT reporting form (only if the SEVP Portal system does not let you report the employment details yourself)
  • Address Reporting form (only if the SEVP Portal system does not let you report the residential address details yourself)

Ending OPT

If you will stop using your OPT work authorization before the EAD end date, you may need to report this information to ISO.

Departure

You may let ISO know via the Report Departure from F-1 OPT/STEM Status form if you leave the United States at any time during your OPT, and you decide you will not return to use the remainder of your F-1 OPT authorization. In the form, you will be asked to confirm you have departed the United States, you will not return to the United States to use the remainder of your OPT authorization, and that you would like us to deactivate your SEVIS record (this will stop the accrual of unemployment days). Please note: it will not be possible to reactivate the SEVIS record following deactivation. You will need a new SEVIS record created if you will return to the United States for activities that requires F-1 status.

Note: You may not want to request this deactivation if you will begin another program of study in the United States within 5 months of ending your employment activity. If this is your plan, please contact ISO for further guidance about your eligibility for a SEVIS Immigration Transfer (for study at another school) or a Change of Education Level (to begin another degree at UR) once you are admitted to the new program.

Changing Status

If you change status to a different visa category during your OPT, please use the Report Departure from F-1 OPT/STEM Status form to provide evidence of your new status so we can make sure your F-1 SEVIS record is appropriately completed.

If you will be changing status to the H-1B, please review Cap-Gap Extensions in case this information applies to your transition from F-1 OPT to H-1B. If you have been approved an H-1B with consular notification and you would like your ISO advisor to review it in advance of your travel abroad for the H-1B visa sticker, please upload it via the Student Document Upload form in URcompass. After obtaining your visa sticker and entering the US in H-1B status, you will need to report your change of status to ISO via the Report Departure from F-1 OPT/STEM Status form.