OPT / STEM OPT / Visa Grace Period
F-1 OPT, STEM-OPT and visa grace period.
These calculators are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice.
How the OPT / STEM OPT / Visa Grace Period works
The OPT / STEM OPT / Visa Grace Period calculator takes the program end date on your Form I-20 and lays out the cluster of F-1 dates that follow from it: the earliest you can file for post-completion OPT, the end of your 60-day grace period, and the approximate outer edge of OPT plus a STEM extension. Enter a single date and the whole timeline appears.
Every figure is measured from the program end date, which is the date your designated school official (DSO) records on the I-20 — not necessarily your commencement ceremony or your last exam. Because all of the deadlines move with that anchor, fixing it correctly is the first and most important step.
These dates are planning aids, not authorizations. Your binding work-authorization dates are the validity dates printed on your EAD card, and the rules around OPT, grace periods, and STEM extensions are detailed. Use the calculator to see the shape of your timeline, then confirm every operative date with your DSO.
Worked example
For a program end date of May 15, the calculator shows the OPT application window opening 90 days earlier (mid-February), the 60-day grace period ending around July 14, and an approximate STEM OPT horizon roughly three years out. The grace-period date is a continuous 60-calendar-day count from May 15 — weekends and holidays included — so it does not roll for a weekend the way a court deadline would.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 60-day grace period let me work?
No. The grace period is time to prepare to depart, transfer schools, change status, or remain while a timely OPT application is pending — it is not work authorization. You can only work with an approved EAD whose start date has arrived. If you leave your program early, the grace period is 15 days rather than 60.
When can I file for post-completion OPT?
As early as 90 days before your program end date, and no later than 60 days after it (and within 30 days of your DSO entering the OPT recommendation in SEVIS). Filing near the front of that window is safer because USCIS processing takes time and your authorization cannot begin until the EAD is approved.
Is the STEM date exact, and is this legal advice?
The STEM figure is an approximate planning horizon projected from your program end date; your real OPT and STEM dates run from the validity dates on your EAD card. This tool is general information only, not legal or immigration advice — confirm any real deadline with your DSO and, where appropriate, a licensed immigration attorney.
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