United States: White House Announces Expansion of STEM OPT Program and Other Initiatives to Attract STEM Talent

The F-1 STEM optional practical training (OPT) extension program – which allows F-1 students with a qualifying STEM degree to hold OPT work authorization for up to 36 months – will be expanded to include 22 new degree fields. A new process will allow interested parties to nominate other degree fields for inclusion in or deletion from the STEM OPT program. 

The newly designated fields of study are Bioenergy; Forestry, General; Forest Resources Production and Management; Human Centered Technology Design; Cloud Computing; Anthrozoology; Climate Science; Earth Systems Science; Economics and Computer Science; Environmental Geosciences; Geobiology; Geography and Environmental Studies; Mathematical Economics; Mathematics and Atmospheric/Oceanic Science; Data Science, General; Data Analytics, General; Business Analytics; Data Visualization; Financial Analytics; Data Analytics, Other; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Social Sciences, Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods. These fields have been added to the Department of Homeland Security’s full list of designated STEM degrees. A Federal Register notice announcing the new fields was published and takes effect today.

New USCIS guidance addresses O-1A eligibility for Ph.D. graduates in STEM fields, and illustrates how O-1A evidentiary criteria should be applied to foreign nationals working in STEM fields.  The guidance is intended to emphasize nonimmigrant options for foreign STEM workers beyond the H-1B category.

New policies also instruct agency adjudicators in determining whether a foreign national pursuing employment-based permanent residence is eligible for a discretionary waiver of the job offer and labor certification requirements in the U.S. national interest. The new policies are intended to make the National Interest Waiver more broadly available to foreign nationals with STEM backgrounds who are pursuing endeavors that benefit the United States, including entrepreneurial ventures. 

New State Department guidance will allow J-1 undergraduate and pre-doctoral students in STEM fields (and those who have recently completed such studies) to obtain up to 36 months of optional practical training, up from a maximum of 18 months.  This new initiative will run for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years for exchange students who meet the academic training requirements. Exchange program sponsors may request STEM-related academic training for up to 36 months for eligible students and recent graduates who seek to commence academic training no later than 30 days after completion of their STEM-related studies. The State Department will also launch an “Early Career STEM Research Initiative,” to facilitate J-1 exchange visitors coming to the United States to engage in STEM research through research, training or educational exchange visitor programs with host organizations, including businesses. 

The White House initiatives offer broader post-graduate employment options for STEM-educated foreign students in the United States, as well as clarification of nonimmigrant and permanent residence pathways for foreign nationals with a STEM background.  These initiatives have the potential to promote greater predictability in the adjudication of STEM-related applications for immigration benefits, though much will depend on how agency adjudicators apply the new policies in practice. Fragomen will closely track case outcomes under the new policies, and will provide updates as trends emerge.