The offer comes in on a Sunday night, through a chat app. The pay looks good. The work is fully remote. The "interview" lasted ten minutes, and nobody asked a single question about your degree. You have been applying for weeks, so you want to say yes before they change their mind.
Slow down for one evening. That evening is cheap. A bad offer is not.
Fact-checked against the official sources on 4 November 2026.
A few words first
OPT (Optional Practical Training) lets an F-1 student work in the U.S. in a job tied to what they studied. STEM OPT is a 24-month extension for students with a qualifying science, tech, engineering or math degree. Your DSO (Designated School Official) is the person at your school who handles your student record. Form I-983 is the training plan that a STEM OPT student and employer fill in together.
Why a fake offer is worse than no offer
The rules say OPT work must be directly related to your major area of study. During post-completion OPT, your F-1 status depends on employment, and the same rule caps unemployment at 90 days in total, or 150 days if you also get the STEM OPT extension.
So a job matters for your status, not just your bank account. And the risk of a fake one is real. In a March 2026 broadcast message, SEVP (the Student and Exchange Visitor Program) said that employers and students engaged in suspected fraud risk referral for administrative or criminal investigations.
Check this first: the five red flags
If you are wondering how to find a job on OPT without walking into trouble, start with this list. SEVP has shared the same warning signs with students on Study in the States and repeated them in the 2026 broadcast:
- A vague website. No examples of client work, no contact details, no social media accounts.
- Duties that don't match. What you will actually do is different from what the employer told your school.
- A strange work address. The place does not look like somewhere people work, or it doesn't match the address on your Form I-983.
- A big group from one school. An employer you have never heard of is hiring a large group of F or M students from the same school.
- Work only through apps. Everything happens remotely or through messaging apps such as WeChat. SEVP's quick guide for schools names WhatsApp too.
One red flag is a reason to ask questions. Two or three together is a reason to stop and talk to your DSO.
Do this next: test the offer
- Put the duties next to your degree. Write the main tasks in one column and your courses in the other. If you can't draw a line between them, the job may not count as OPT work.
- Look for real work. Find the company's clients, products or projects. A real business leaves a trail.
- Check the address. Look it up on a map. A house or an empty office is worth a question.
- Ask who will supervise you. Ask for a name, a team and your weekly hours. The quick guide tells schools to check work hours and supervision details, so expect your DSO to ask too.
- Keep your resume honest. An SEVP broadcast message says reputable recruiters will not change a student's resume or academic background to get a placement. If someone offers to "fix" your degree, walk away.
- Ask your DSO. SEVP tells students to contact their DSO with any questions about what a recruiter told them.
A small worked example
Say you finished a master's in data science. A recruiter offers you a "data analyst" role. The job post lists SQL reports and dashboards. That fits your courses.
Then you ask what the first month looks like. The answer: "Mostly calling customers about late payments." That is a duties mismatch, red flag 2. You ask for the office address, and it turns out to be an apartment with no team on site. That's red flag 3.
You don't argue. You thank them, save the messages, and email your DSO the job post and the answers. One evening of checking just saved you months of worry.
If something feels wrong
SEVP lists a few places to report it:
- Your DSO, first.
- The ICE tip form, if you think an employer is not following the terms of employment.
- The SEVP Response Center.
- The U.S. Department of Labor, if your concern is about wages or work conditions.
The 2017 broadcast adds that victims and witnesses of criminal activity may be eligible for immigration relief.
About DevGrid Staffing LLC
At DevGrid Staffing LLC, we are enrolled in E-Verify, we hire OPT and STEM OPT candidates, and we guide them through the early stages of their careers. If you are looking for OPT jobs, our careers page lists our career-starting openings.
Please read this as a notebook entry from DevGrid Staffing LLC, not as legal advice. Rules change, and your record has details we can't see. Your own case is a question for your DSO, or for an immigration attorney.
One thing to try today
Take the job offer you are most excited about and check it against the five red flags. Write "yes" or "no" next to each one.
From the DevGrid Staffing LLC notebook · devgridstaffing.com
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