In mid-May, 2025 NAFSA members reported that certain F-1 students on Optional Practical Training (OPT) received a letter from SEVP titled “Student and Exchange Visitor Program: Notice of Failure to Report Optional Practical Training Employer and Exceeding Permissible Period of Unemployment," advising the students that they’ve “been participating in Optional Practical Training (OPT) for more than 90 days but have not reported any employer information,” and that “If your SEVIS record is not updated within 15 days of the date of this notice, SEVP will set your SEVIS record to “terminated” to reflect the lack of employer information and the potential that you may have violated your status either by failing to timely report OPT employment or by exceeding the permissible period of unemployment while on OPT.”
See a copy of the 2025 letter.
The wording of the 2025 letter is exactly the same as a 2020 letter that was sent to students during Trump-Pence administration.
Practice Note. DSOs should regularly check their SEVIS "Accrued Unemployment Days for Students on Approved OPT or STEM" Alert. SEVP's SEVIS Help Hub Alerts and Lists page describes this alert:
- "Lists students on active post-completion OPT or STEM OPT with at least one day of unemployment.
- Shows if the student is employed, as of the date and time the list was generated.
- DSOs should closely monitor this list to follow up with students with high levels of unemployment and to remind students to keep employment information up to date, either by self-reporting employer information in the SEVP Portal or asking the DSO to enter their changes in SEVIS."
Background
SEVP has long maintained that they can notify students of the possibility of this. For example, SEVP OPT Policy Guidance 1004-03 (April 23, 2010) [item 7.4.4] stated that:
“ICE/SEVP may examine SEVIS data for an individual, a selected group or all students on post-completion OPT and terminate a student’s record if it fails to show that the student maintained the proper period of employment. In such cases, the student will be given an opportunity to show that he or she complied with all OPT requirements, including maintaining employment.”
Along the same lines, SEVIS Help Hub - Optional Practical Training contains the following guidance:
- “A student whose record lacks employer information is considered unemployed.
- SEVP officials can manually terminate a student who accrues 90 total days of unemployment.
- See the Unemployment Counter article on the SEVIS Help Hub for more information.“
In 2018 (during the first Trump administration) SEVP Broadcast Message 1810-03 (October 15, 2018) told DSOs:
“Be advised that while SEVP is assessing the SEVIS auto-terminate function it will not be turned on for students who go over the unemployment limits set by regulation. Once evaluation of the function is complete SEVP will fully engage the auto-terminate action. SEVP will communicate the implementation of the auto-terminate action to stakeholders at that time.”
Two years later in the first Trump administration, SEVP Broadcast Message 2008-03: SEVP to Mail Notices to OPT Students Without Employer (August 28, 2020) informed DSOs that SEVP conducted:
“a review of SEVIS records for OPT participants and is mailing notices directly to students who have not reported employer information and have exceeded 90 days of unemployment. The notice informs students of their lack of employer/employment information and provides an opportunity for them to update their records either through their DSO or directly through the SEVP Portal. If the student’s SEVIS record is not updated, SEVP will set the record to “terminated” to reflect the lack of employer information and the potential that the student may have violated their status either by failing to timely report OPT employment or by exceeding the permissible period of unemployment while on OPT... For additional information, please reference the attached notice, 'Failure to Report Employment While on Optional Practical Training,' that SEVP will mail to students"
Here's a copy of the notice that SEVP distributed to DSOs as an attachment to the 2020 BM 2008-03. You’ll see that it’s the exact language of what they’re sending out now. Here’s NAFSA’s page on the 2020 event.