Holding Two Jobs at Once on OPT: Multiple Employer and Part-Time Rules Explained

What counts as OPT employment

Optional Practical Training (OPT) is temporary work authorization tied to your F-1 status that lets you work in the United States in a job connected to your degree. Post-completion OPT runs for 12 months after you finish your program, and eligible STEM graduates add a 24-month STEM OPT extension on top. Every hour you work under OPT, across one job or several, traces back to your field of study.

Multiple employers are allowed

As of August 2026, USCIS lets F-1 students on post-completion OPT work for more than one employer at the same time. Each position relates to your degree field, so a marketing job and a part-time tutoring role in an unrelated subject would not both count. There is no cap on the number of employers, only on how the work connects to your major.

The 20-hour combined threshold

Post-completion OPT counts as full-time authorized employment once you reach 20 hours a week, and that threshold applies to your combined hours across all jobs, not to any single job on its own. Two part-time roles at 12 hours a week each add up to 24 hours and satisfy the requirement. If your total combined hours drop under 20 in a given week, those weeks count toward your unemployment day allowance, per the Study in the States unemployment counter guidance .

Regular post-completion OPT allows up to 90 days of unemployment across the 12-month period. Add the STEM OPT extension, and your total unemployment allowance across both periods rises to 150 days, with no more than 90 of those days falling inside the initial 12-month OPT period.

Why STEM OPT applies tighter rules

Once you move to the 24-month STEM extension, each employer stays actively enrolled in E-Verify at the time you file and for the length of your employment there, according to Study in the States . Arrangements such as staffing agencies, consulting firms that place you at a client site, or sole proprietorships struggle to prove the direct, bona fide employer-employee relationship STEM OPT requires. A second STEM OPT job stays possible, but only if that second employer meets the same E-Verify and supervision standards as your primary one.

Reporting every job

Log each employer, including a second or third job, in the SEVP Portal within 10 days of starting, per Study in the States . This applies whether the second job is new or you add an employer you already had while your first job continued. Missing the 10-day window is a status violation, and the portal blocks entry of employment information after the deadline passes, so report changes as soon as they happen rather than waiting until the end of the month.

Switching one job while keeping the other

If you leave one job but keep the second, your unemployment clock depends on whether your remaining hours still reach 20 a week. Two jobs at 15 hours each meet the threshold together.

Drop one and keep only the 15-hour job, and you fall under 20 hours, so unemployment days start accumulating even though you remain technically employed. Track your combined hours weekly, not just your job count, whenever a position ends.

Part-time-only combinations

A single full-time job is not required to stay compliant. Two or more part-time positions that add up to 20 hours or more a week meet the same standard as one full-time job, as long as each position relates to your field of study. This works the same way for STEM OPT, provided every employer in the mix satisfies the E-Verify and supervision requirements.

Field of study still applies to every job

USCIS checks that every role ties back to your degree program during any later review, such as a change of status or an H-1B petition. Keep a short written note for each employer explaining how the work connects to your major, along with your offer letter or contract, in case you need to show it later.

Common two-job combinations

A marketing graduate working 15 hours a week at a digital agency and 10 hours a week doing related freelance content work meets the 20-hour threshold through two part-time roles. A data science graduate holding a full-time analyst job and picking up a few hours a week tutoring statistics in the same field can also count both, since tutoring in your subject area still relates to your degree. Mixing an OPT-eligible job with unrelated gig work, such as food delivery or unrelated retail shifts, does not extend your qualifying hours, even if the extra income helps.

Regular OPT vs STEM OPT at a glance