Peralta Colleges Office of International Education

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Peralta Colleges

Office of International Education

Employment

You may also fill out this OPT Student Profile for us to share your information with potential employers .
 

APPLYING FOR Optional Practical Training (OPT):

For OPT you will need to complete the following:

Log into your Global Peralta System account here: https://international.peralta.edu/

Once logged in, click on Search Programs, then Optional Practical Training (OPT) Application. Once on the OPT Application page, click on Apply Now then Request.  From here you can click on the Learning Content “F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT): Rules & Regulations”. You will also need to complete the Questionnaires section, as well as upload your Petition for Degree/Certificate if this is your final semester. (You do not need to upload a Petition to Graduate if you are applying for Pre-Completion OPT)

Once you have done so, here are the documents you will need to collect in order for me to create a new I-20 for you which you will need to request OPT:

Once you collect all documents, please email Drew Gephart (dgephart@peralta.edu) to meet together and he will then create a new OPT I-20 which you will send to USCIS.

ONCE APPROVED FOR OPT

You will receive an email with instructions on creating an SEVP portal account. This email will come from do-not-reply.sevp@ice.dhs.gov. If you do not see the email, check your spam or junk mail folder. If you still do not see it, contact me to have the email sent again.

Try this link if you don’t get the email: https://sevp.ice.gov/opt/#/login

The SEVP Portal will allow you to update your employment information which you are required to report. As a reminder, while you are on OPT, you are required to report your employment related to your course of study within 10 days of being hired and are not permitted to be out of employment for more than 90 total days during your approved OPT period.

On the SEVP portal, you may also:

  • View details about your post-completion OPT.
  • Report changes to your address, telephone and employer information.
  • View and update data on all your employers in one place.

Any data updates you make in the portal will be sent directly to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.

Please let Drew Gephart (dgephart@peralta.edu) know once you update your employment information so he can create a new I-20 for you.

When OPT is COMPLETED

You will have several options to consider:

  • Transfer out to another school – You will need to submit a letter of acceptance and complete our transfer out process so that we can transfer you out before the date your 60 day grace period will end. Please keep in mind that your new program must begin within 5 months of your OPT End Date.
  • You may also re-apply to our colleges for the next available term. To do so, you must re-apply to our college by our transfer deadline. Please follow the instructions on this page (http://web.peralta.edu/international/how-to-apply) to apply as a transfer student, and contact our admissions staff Karla David (kdavid@peralta.edu) and Nha Le (nle@peralta.edu) to see what is required to return and inform them of your decision to return to our college.
  • The final option is for you to return to your home country or submit documentation to our office informing us of a change of status. Please complete our Departure process in your GPS account for these options.

If no action is taken, your I-20 will be automatically completed 60 days after your OPT End date.

Health Insurance for OPT Students

Students who have requested, pending or approved Optional Practical Training (OPT) will no longer be automatically enrolled into the Peralta Health Insurance plan through Relation/Geo Blue.

If you’d like to enroll into the health insurance plan, you may do so by using one of the attached forms for your respective college and pay the applicable fees directly to Relation along with the completed form. If you cancel the coverage during the semester, Relation will reimburse you for the months you have not used the coverage as long as you do not have any claims (please check with Relation Insurance – kevin.mccarroll@relationinsurance.com – for a complete list of the refund policies and any questions you may have).

You will no longer pay these fees through your Peralta Student Center nor will you need to complete a waiver form if you do not want the coverage. It is entirely up to you. If you do nothing, your health insurance coverage will automatically end.

If you still have fees due for health insurance on you Peralta account, please let us know. If you already paid fees for health insurance, then those fees will be credited back to your account and you may apply for a refund.

You may also enroll in a month to month plan through Patriot insurance in case you do not want the coverage for the entire semester.

Patriot Exchange Program (click link for fillable form).

On the form, students enter the following information and select their length of coverage:

  • Age
  • DOB
  • Gender
  • Length of Coverage
  • Country of Citizenship
  • Country of Residence
  • Primary Destination Country

Then students click “See Prices”.

Students then choose their own plan based on deductible and maximum plan benefit. There are four tiers for each option (32 options total). Each plan also has an “add-on” option.

After selecting plan, students enter demographic and payment information, review, then complete purchase.

For more specifics, the contact person for the Patriot Exchange Program is Danny Firestone who can be reached at danny.firestone@relationinsurance.com

Each semester you will need to enroll separately into the health insurance if you are planning to keep the coverage. Otherwise you will no longer be covered.