I just received a job offer and will start working in June 15th. Is it too late to apply for OPT now? I heard the immigration office is quite busy these days, hence a longer processing time.
Thank you!
| +134 | Do people still want to go PE? | 39 | 11h |
| +108 | UBS Tech layoff | 48 | 14h |
| +103 | UBS’s M&A BANKERS ARE DOING TERRIBLY. $200M EXTRA IS BEING CUT | 23 | 2h |
| +46 | How do YOU manage networking requests? | 10 | 2h |
| +40 | Are target prospects getting dumber? | 16 | 13m |
| +37 | Lazard hirevue | 11 | 3d |
| +37 | What Differentiates the Best Analysts as AI Improves? | 9 | 3d |
| +33 | MBB Pay Raises | 24 | 20m |
| +32 | Cornell Club T10 Rankings (UPDATED 10/2026) | 19 | 16h |
| +32 | Quitting After First 4 months | 11 | 10h |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
you better do that right now. it's possible that you can get it in time, but it's tough. i applied a month ago and already got it, but right now processing times get really slow (3 months), so you would be risking it. talk to your office of international students or your equivalent, but i would start prepping all the papers right now and be ready to ask for a new i-20 tomorrow morning.
You should apply ASAP, at my school they tell us to be prepared to wait up to 90 days. Make sure you have all your information submitted properly (signed your I-20, submitted all the documents etc) because they will find out if you've missed something and this will delay your processing time significantly (this happened to someone I know and he applied over 2 months ago). Also, there is a chance that they will screw up a detail (like spell your name wrong) so make sure you keep an eye out for that since if you miss it and get your OPT with the wrong details it is invalid.
You should contact your job and tell them there is a very high probability that you will need to start later (or atleast they can only pay you later), probably around end of July.
Instead of your school mailing it by regular mail, they can release it to you, and you can courier it to the office. Like monito said, at this time it takes forever. I applied in mid April last year and only got it by June 12. So you will probably get it just in time, but get it out asap.
Est ut consectetur velit voluptas odit. Beatae est nihil eaque nulla labore vero aut voluptas. Veniam in consequatur et possimus odit deserunt.
Ut et fugiat qui natus fugiat. Perferendis ad provident voluptatibus. Numquam totam quis voluptates repellat enim blanditiis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...