OPT Trackers: A Complete Guide

Posted by Teresa Hurst on November 12th, 2019

What Is OPT?

OPT refers to Optional Practical Training. OPT is a work authorization period for F-1 students who have completed or have been pursuing their degrees for at least one academic year. F1 visa students are permitted to work for one year on a student visa towards getting practical training to complement their education and also offered OPT extension by the USCIS.

Once you are done with filing your petition or application with USCIS you will have wait till the time USCIS processes your application. It is very important to track your status to see to it that your file is moving forward as per stipulated time and in case there are any constraints of getting it approved within time then to know what is causing the delay.

Every year USCIS receives thousands of petition and application for OPT jobs in USA and the processing time depends on type of case you have filed and where you have filed it. One can check the processing times of the field offices, service centers, and National Benefits center. This would not be case of CPT jobs as they are generally done before the course begins.

Here are the different ways you can track the status of your case:

Phone:

One can directly call USCIS at 1800-375-5283 to know application status. But this is not one of the best methods to employ as one can be queue anywhere between 2 minutes to 2 hours depending upon the availability of the representative.

Online Trackers:

A simple way to check the status of your pending case is to go to website like USCIS. There are online OPT trackers to share, discuss and track OPT case status.

Email/Text/Phone App:

One can register to receive updates by email, SMS or phone app like USCIS Case Status Notifier (Android), Case Status Lite (Apple and Android), USCIS Helper (Apple), and USCIS Checker (Apple, Android, and Windows)

Mail

One can also receive updates by mail by providing your residential address and personal information such as your first name last name, DOB, alien number (if applicable), the date and place your petition or application was filed, and your receipt number if one has been provided with one. You should also attach a copy of your receipt notice if one has it.

Out of the above the most popular ones are OPT trackers. Now let us get details of this:

Now what is an OPT case tracker?Once you apply for an OPT permission under F1 visa you will require to get work authorization from USCIS to work on internship or full time job. But easier said than done. The entire process is time consuming and requires lot of documentation to be filed. You might have wait till 90 days from the date of application. The most difficult part the lack of updates to foresee any delay and what might be the cause of delay. This is when OPT tracker can help in sourcing the exact status of your application.

Now how does this entire process work?

Actually USCIS does not provide any information pertaining to the status of your application because of confidentiality issues. This is when OPT tracker comes to your rescue. Actually the job Optional Practical Training tracker job is provide better visibility your application. Let us understand this with an example. Say, an applicant with a priority date of August 18, 2019, is waiting for a decision on their OPT application that is being processed by XYZ Center, and they notice in the tracker that a case was just approved on August 17, 2019, they can rest assured that their case will be processed soon assuming that the applications are being processed in a first-in-first-out manner.

Most Popular OPT trackers:

The below mentioned are top OPT trackers and one can stay updated if you filed your application for OPT authorization.

Trackitt

Trackitt helps you track the status of your OPT application along with various other immigration applications by providing a common platform to its users. Here, users can jointly track the progress of their applications, share any updates that they could have, and discuss the progress of their applications.

OPTnation

One of the best OPT Tracker in the industry is OPTnation’s OPT Tracker. OPTnation helps you track the status of your OPT application along with various other services for international students in USA like job placement services, resume building and job portal platform to its users. 

Check USCIS

Last on the list is CheckUSCIS.com which collects data straight from the USCIS official web site and shows it to students in an easy-to understand way. This tracker also provides you with related statistics to transmit you are not alone since there are numerous other students waiting for the updates on their application status.

As USCIS recently has asked for reasons of delay and denials of OPT authorization, OPT Trackers could be a very useful tool for international students to track whether their applications are progressing on time within the US administration and whether if there is any delay what could the reason of delay or denial.

Do share this information to all who are associated with OPT authorization. Might be useful to them.