Hello folks,

I am graduating in this May. Do I get 29 months OPT or 12 months opt ?

If you are STEM major and find a job in related field you will get 29 months...and if you don't find a job withing 3 months you are out of luck. (based on my understanding of new rule)

I think you need to find a job within 3 months otherwise OPT will be invalid

Yep, deshbhaktanepali is correct.  You don't get whole bunch of 29 months OPT when you apply for OPT.  When you first apply you will get 12 month of OPT and the 12 month limit on OPT gets extended by 17 months, for a total of 29 month, for only STEM degreeholders who are working for a US emplyoer in a job directly related to their major area of study.  And yeah note this if you are unable to find a job within 90 days from the start date of your OPT, your OPT becomes invalid meaning you are out of status after three months according to this new rule.  So I believe there is not whole lot reason to be happy with this 29 months OPT rule.  

Hi,

How do i know whether or not my degree belongs to STEM category.Does anybody have list of degrees or codes to indicate that?

thanks in advance

Hey gyane_mara, according to USCIS, the list of degrees that fall under STEM are:

Actuarial Science. NCES CIP Code 52.1304

Computer Science: NCES CIP Codes 11 .xxxx (except Data

Entry/Microcomputer Applications, NCES CIP Codes 11.06xx)

Engineering: NCES CIP Codes 14.xxxx

Engineering Technologies: NCES CIP Codes 15.xxxx

Biological and Biomedical Sciences: NCES CIP Codes 26.xxxx

Mathematics and Statistics: NCES CIP Codes 27.xxxx

Military Technologies: NCES CIP Codes 29.xxxx

Physical Sciences: NCES CIP Codes 40.xxxx

Science Technologies: NCES CIP Codes 41.xxxx

Medical Scientist (MS, PhD): NCES CIP Code 51.1401

STEM Designated Degree Program List is based on the US Departmen of Education's "Classification of Instructional Program" (CIP) 2000 report which you can find online at 

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002165.pdf 

See the list and find if your major falls under STEM or not.

join e-verified consultancy otherwise, no tension of  3 mnths grace period

thanks to everybody who answerd my question. !