The OPT filing window is still 60 days after your program end date

Students search for "the 60-day OPT filing window," and 60 is still the right number. USCIS must receive your post-completion OPT application (Form I-765) no later than 60 days after your program end date, and within 30 days of the date your DSO enters the OPT recommendation in SEVIS. A DHS rule would have cut the window to 30 days starting September 15, 2026. A federal court postponed it on September 14, 2026, and USCIS says it is proceeding under the previous regulations. 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(B)(2); 91 FR 44976

So: can you file 45 days after graduation? Yes, if USCIS receives the application by day 60 after your program end date and within 30 days of your DSO's recommendation. The recommendation clock is often the tighter one: a recommendation entered on your program end date expires for filing purposes on day 30. 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(B)(2)

The three deadlines that govern your filing

1. The filing window. USCIS must receive your Form I-765 no earlier than 90 days before, and no later than 60 days after, your program end date: the end date on your I-20, not your ceremony date. 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(B)(2)
2. The 30-day SEVIS rule. Separately, USCIS must receive the I-765 within 30 days of the date your DSO enters the OPT recommendation into SEVIS. A recommendation that sits while you gather documents burns this clock. 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(B)(2)
3. The requested start date. You may not request an OPT start date more than 60 days after your program end date. Employment authorization begins on the date you requested or the date USCIS adjudicates the application, whichever is later. 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(D)

What this means in practice

File early. The window opens 90 days before your program end date, and there is no advantage to waiting. The safe pattern is simple: ask your DSO for the OPT recommendation before your program ends, file online soon after you have it (well inside its 30 days), and request a start date no later than 60 days after your program end date.

If USCIS approves after your requested start date, you do not lose eligibility: employment authorization begins on the adjudication date. What you lose is usable OPT time. That is one more argument for filing at the early edge of the window. 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(D)

What you cannot do

• Work while the application is pending. OPT employment cannot begin before the approved start date on your EAD. 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(D)
• File after day 60. An application USCIS receives after the window closes is not timely. At that point the realistic paths are a new program of study or departure; talk to your DSO before doing anything.
• Let the SEVIS recommendation age past 30 days. If it lapses before USCIS receives your filing, go back to your DSO before you file.

A note on "graduation" vs. your program end date

The clock runs from the program end date your DSO records in SEVIS, usually the last day of your final term. If you finished coursework in December but the degree confers in May, the SEVIS end date is what counts. When those dates don't line up, talk to your DSO before you file, because the answer changes the whole calendar.

What the postponed rule would change

Status: postponed nationwide by court order on September 14, 2026 (Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. DHS, No. 1:26-cv-13799, D. Mass., under 5 U.S.C. § 705). Next court date: October 2, 2026. This page is updated when that changes.

Everything in this section describes the final rule as published at 91 FR 44976 (July 17, 2026). None of it applies today. 91 FR 44976

• A 30-day window. USCIS would have to receive the I-765 no later than 30 days after the program end date. The 90-day opening would not change. 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(B)(2), as amended (amendatory text at 91 FR 45124)
• A 30-day start-date cap. The requested OPT start date could be at most 30 days after the program end date. 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(D), as amended
• Same 30-day SEVIS rule. The recommendation rule would not change, but it would run alongside a filing window of the same length.
• Why 30. DHS tied the filing window to the rule's 30-day departure period for students admitted under the fixed-period system: the preamble explains that you could file for OPT for as long as you were still authorized to be here after finishing, and no longer. 91 FR 45105
• Which window would govern. As published, the line was the receipt date: applications USCIS received before the effective date would be judged under the 60-day window, and applications pending on that date would remain valid. 8 CFR 214.1(m)(2), as amended
• The March 18, 2027 carve-out. Under the rule, applying for OPT would generally also mean filing a Form I-539 to extend a fixed period of stay. A transition student who filed for OPT on or before March 18, 2027, within their period of admission, would not need that I-539. The carve-out would remove a form, not extend the 30-day filing deadline. See the March 18, 2027 guide. 8 CFR 214.1(m)(1)(i), as amended

As published, the rule counts its transition dates from its original September 15, 2026 effective date. If the postponement ends, check how DHS applies those dates at that time; this page will say.