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Office of International Services

Update Your Employment Information

While on 12-month post-completion OPT, you must report the start and end of your employment to SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) within 10 days of occurrence. You will be reporting and updating your employment information in the SEVP Portal.

The SEVP Portal is a tool that lets OPT students meet their OPT reporting requirements. The Portal allows OPT students to report their address, telephone number and employer information. The portal shares information with SEVIS, but does not give students direct access to SEVIS.

Only OIS advisors have direct access to your SEVIS record, but you will be able to review and update your home/mailing address, telephone number, and employment information via the SEVP Portal. All data entered into the SEVP Portal will be automatically sent to SEVIS.

The SEVP Portal is only be accessible to students whose OPT has been approved and is active. Once your Employment Authorization Document (EAD card) is issued and the start date on your EAD card arrives (or within 1-2 days after the start date), you will receive an email from SEVP with instructions on creating an SEVP Portal account.  This email will come from do-not-reply.sevp@ice.dhs.gov to the email address associated with your SEVIS record (which will be the email address you have checked as “preferred” in your MyPack account).

Please review the process for creating an SEVP Portal account on this DHS webpage.

  1. Remember, SEVP will send you this email only when your OPT is approved and active, meaning that you have been issued an Employment Authorization Document (EAD card) and the start date of you EAD card has arrived (or within 1-2 days after the start date). If you already have your EAD card, but the start date of your EAD card is still in the future, you will not have the SEVP email yet.
  2. The SEVP email will come from do-not-reply.sevp@ice.dhs.gov to the email checked as your preferred email in MyPack. The email that is checked as your preferred email in MyPack is associated with your SEVIS record and will be used for the SEVP Portal. You can change your preferred email in MyPack, if you need to. If you change your preferred email in MyPack, it will take 2-3 days for the system to transmit the update into SEVIS and the SEVP Portal. 
  3. Check your spam/junk mailbox to make sure you didn’t miss the SEVP email.
  4. If you have your EAD card, it has been more than 2 days from the start date, but you still haven’t received an email from SEVP, please submit the SEVP Portal Unlock Request in GlobalHome. One of our DSOs will request a reset to your portal account. In this case, you should soon receive the missing email from SEVP.

When there are SEVP system problems affecting many users, SEVP will post an announcement on the login landing page, here. If you see such a notice, please follow the instructions to address the problem. You can also call the SEVP Response Center at 703-603-3400.

Students are required to add their employer information in the SEVP Portal within 10 days from the start of employment. If you miss the 10 day reporting deadline, employment updates must still be reported although the SEVP Portal will not allow OPT students to report employment that began more than 10 days in the past. As such, you will need an OIS advisor’s assistance to submit your employment information for you. In such cases, please complete the OPT Employment Update request in GlobalHome.

  1. Remember to add your employer’s information within 10 days from the start of employment.
  2. If you have multiple employers at the same time, make sure to add each employer in your SEVP Portal account.
  3. If the end date of your employment has not been specified, you can leave this field blank.
  4. When your employment ends, make sure to update your employer information in the SEVP Portal by editing the end date. When you start to work with a new employer, remember to add a new employer record. If your position changed within the same employer, do not add a new employer record, just edit your job title in the record that already exists for this employer.
  5. In the “Employer Address” field, make sure to put your work site’s address, which can be different from your employer’s main office address. If you continue to work for the same employer but move to another worksite, you will need to edit the employer address field.
  6. The detailed instructions on updating employer information in the SEVP Portal are available on this DHS webpage.

Please submit the SEVP Portal Unlock Request in GlobalHome. A DSO will reset your portal account. After that, you should receive an email from do-not-reply.sevp@ice.dhs.gov. Please follow the instructions in that email to unlock your account or create a new one. 

Please consult the SEVP Help page and User Guide for technical support.

  • You should collect and retain all documentation (offer letters, time sheets, paycheck stubs,  etc.) related to your employment while on OPT. You may need it when applying for future benefits or changes of status.
  • In addition to the employment information, you are responsible for updating your physical home address, mailing address, and telephone numbers. Any address change must be reported within 10 days through GlobalHome.
  • If you change your immigration status, please send a copy of proof of such change (e.g. USCIS  Approval Notice) to OIS by submitting a Proof of Change of Status form in GlobalHome.