SEVP Portal

If your OPT or STEM OPT is approved and your start date has arrived, check your UT Dallas email for an email with the link to set up your SEVP Portal account. You can recognize the email by the sender and subject lines:

Sender: do-not-reply.SEVP@ice.dhs.gov

Subject Line: Optional Practical Training Approval – the next step. Create an SEVP Portal account

The email contains a link you must use to create the account. The link is unique to you. You can only use the link once. If you are unable to start the registration process, ask the ISSO to have SEVP send you the email notice again by submitting an Ask an Advisor eForm in iComet.

The SEVP Portal will lock your account if you do not log in to the portal for 90 days or after three failed attempts to log in to the system. You can reset your SEVP Portal password online by going to the SEVP Portal log in page.

If you are an F-1 alumni, you will only obtain an invitation for the SEVP Portal if all of the following conditions have been met:

• Your SEVIS record reflects that you have been approved for Post Completion OPT and/or STEM OPT and

• The start date for your period of Post Completion OPT is either today, or is in the past, and

• Your SEVIS F-1 immigration record is ‘Active’

If you believe that you meet all of these conditions and you have not received an invitation for the portal to your UT Dallas email account, check your spam or junk mail folder. If you still cannot find the email, you may submit an Ask an Advisor eForm in iComet requesting the ISSO to have SEVP resend the email.

No. The SEVP requires the ISSO to report a valid email address for each active F-1 student or alumni. Your @utdallas.edu email account will remain active during OPT to ensure the security and privacy of the communications. If you need assistance in accessing your UTD email account contact the UT Dallas Help Desk at assist@utdallas.edu or (972) 883-2911.

No, not unless you also report to the ISSO. Updating information in the SEVP Portal is optional. Reporting to the ISSO is mandatory.

This ISSO is not notified directly when you make an update through the SEVP Portal. It is your responsibility to submit the correct reporting documents, depending on if you are on Post-Completion OPT or STEM OPT. Not all updates will generate a new I-20.

After reporting to the ISSO, watch your UT Dallas email address for updates. We will send you a confirmation email as soon as your request is processed, and we will tell you whether the request generated a new I-20.

No. The SEVP Portal does not allow you to print an I-20. Only the ISSO can issue your Form I-20.

Yes. Updating the SEVIS Portal does not eliminate the need for you to report to ISSO.

There are limits to what OPT information you can update in the SEVP Portal. The two most common reasons that the portal will not let you input employer information are:

• You are trying to add a new employer more than 10 days after the start date of the employment. SEVP will not accept new employer input in the student portal if you are outside of the 10 day reporting window. However, remember that reporting in the SEVP Portal is optional. As long as you submit your report directly to the ISSO (in iComet) within 10 days of employment or address changes, then you have timely reported and fulfilled your OPT requirements. DSOs in the ISSO can still report a past start date into SEVIS once your report is processed.
• You are on the STEM Extension. STEM OPT has much stricter reporting requirements, and most STEM employer information updates must be directly approved by a DSO with verification of your I-983 document. This means that for most STEM OPT reports (with the exception of small changes like a home address update), it may not be possible to report your updates directly in the SEVP Portal. It is also not possible to submit STEM validations in the SEVP Portal. See question below for more information.

If you find that you are unable to report a certain update in the SEVP Portal, you only need to submit the reported changes in iComet to fulfill your reporting requirements.

You must always report changes during OPT in iComet, whether or not you successfully report the update the SEVP Portal.

No. You cannot submit STEM Validations through the SEVP Portal. All validations must be submitted directly into your SEVIS record by an ISSO DSO, after you have submitted the necessary information and documentation in iComet to begin the validation process.

SEVP may send emails to remind you of your validation due dates, and will ask that you check that the information in your Portal appears up-to-date before you begin the validation process with your DSOs. However, checking your information alone does not validate your employment. Your next steps will be to follow the instructions on the STEM OPT Reporting web page, and timely report your validation to the ISSO in iComet within 10 days of each due date.

The information you enter in the portal should be sent immediately to SEVIS to update your record.

No. It can take a significant amount of time for the SEVIS database to transfer information to the SEVP Portal.

No. At this point, you are not required to use the SEVP Portal. If you report via the SEVP Portal, you must also submit an OPT Reporting Form to meet your reporting obligations.

No. There is no additional cost associated with creating an account or accessing the SEVP Portal. Do not pay any money to use the SEVP Portal.