Form I-983 Training Plan: Instructions, Examples, and Common Mistakes

Most of the STEM OPT application is paperwork you fill out once and mail. Form I-983 is different. It is a living compliance document that you and your employer draft together, submit to your DSO, keep updated for two years, and use as the basis for your formal self-evaluations at the 12-month and 24-month marks. USCIS adjudicators read it to determine whether your job genuinely constitutes structured training in your field — or whether it is just a job with a training plan attached to satisfy the regulatory requirement.

Getting the I-983 right is the single highest-leverage thing you can do for your STEM OPT application. Getting it wrong is the most common reason applications receive Requests for Evidence.

What the I-983 Is and Is Not

The I-983 is not submitted to USCIS with your initial I-765 filing. It is submitted to your DSO, who reviews it and retains it in your SEVIS record. USCIS may request it during adjudication via an RFE, and ICE can request it during a worksite visit. The practical standard is: write the I-983 as if USCIS will read it critically, because they may.

The form is signed by both you and an authorized representative of your employer — typically a supervisor or HR officer who has authority to bind the company and who will actually oversee your training. The signatory cannot be you if you are the owner or sole proprietor. It must be someone with genuine supervisory authority above you in the organization.

Section-by-Section Instructions

Section 1: Student Information

You complete this section. The key fields:

• CIP code: Use the exact six-digit code from your qualifying I-20. This must match a code on the current DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List.
• Degree level: Indicate bachelor's, master's, or doctoral as appropriate.
• SEVIS ID number: Found on your I-20, starting with the letter N.
• Whether using a prior degree: If your current 12-month OPT is based on a non-STEM degree and you are using a prior STEM degree for the extension, check the appropriate box and identify the prior degree.
• Requested dates: These should follow immediately after your current OPT EAD expiration date.

Section 2: Student Certification

This is a legal attestation that you sign under penalty of perjury. By signing, you confirm that you understand the training plan, your reporting obligations, and the requirement that the employment directly relate to your STEM degree. Read it carefully before signing.

Section 3: Employer Information

Your employer completes this section. Key fields include:

• Legal company name: Must exactly match the name in the E-Verify system.
• E-Verify Company ID: This is distinct from the EIN. The E-Verify ID is the number assigned when the company enrolled in E-Verify. Ask HR specifically for the E-Verify Company ID — some companies confuse it with their EIN.
• NAICS code: The North American Industry Classification System code for the employer's primary business activity. HR or the company's tax documents will have this.
• Total US full-time employees: Approximate number required.

Section 4: Employer Certification

The employer's authorized signatory attests, under penalty of perjury, that:

• The student will be paid commensurate with similarly situated U.S. workers in the same role and location
• The student will not displace any full-time, part-time, temporary, or permanent U.S. worker
• The company will provide the structured training outlined in Section 5

This is the section that causes hesitation at companies unfamiliar with the STEM OPT process. The word "perjury" makes some HR and legal departments nervous. The attestations themselves are straightforward — if the company is genuinely employing the student at market rates in a real job, all three statements are true.

Section 5: Training Plan — The Critical Section

This is where most applications succeed or fail. Section 5 requires:

Goals and objectives: Specific, measurable learning outcomes the student will achieve through the training. Not job duties — learning objectives.

Oversight and evaluation methodology: How the employer will monitor progress, provide feedback, and ensure the student is actually learning.

Duties, knowledge, skills, and techniques: A description of the specific technical work the student will perform and what academic knowledge it applies.

Site address: Physical location where work is performed. For remote employees, this is the student's home address.

What Makes Learning Objectives Strong vs. Weak

This distinction is the core of I-983 compliance, and it is where most students and their managers go wrong because they approach the form as a job description rather than a training plan.

Weak objective (will trigger RFE): "The student will develop software applications, participate in code reviews, and work with the engineering team to ship product features."

Why it fails: This describes tasks but establishes no academic connection. It reads like a job posting. USCIS cannot determine from this language whether the job is training the student in their field or just employing them.

Strong objective (I-983 compliant): "The student will apply graph neural network architectures studied in the Graduate Algorithms coursework (CSE 6240) to design and implement a recommendation engine. Specifically, the student will implement and evaluate three GNN variants (GCN, GAT, and GraphSAGE), benchmark their performance against a collaborative filtering baseline, and document the tradeoffs in a technical report reviewed by the senior ML engineer quarterly. This directly extends the student's academic training in advanced machine learning by requiring independent research-level problem formulation in a production context."

Why it works: It names the specific academic content, identifies how the work extends it, defines a measurable output, and specifies evaluation. USCIS can see the educational value.

Field-Specific Examples

Software Engineering (CS degree): Objectives should reference algorithm design, systems architecture, distributed computing, database theory, or software engineering methodologies from the academic curriculum. Connect specific coursework concepts — not just general programming skills — to the engineering challenges in the role. "Implementing microservices architecture learned in distributed systems coursework" is more defensible than "building backend services."

Data Science (Statistics or Applied Math degree): Connect statistical inference, regression analysis, machine learning theory, or stochastic modeling from the degree to specific modeling work in the role. "Applying Bayesian hierarchical modeling techniques from graduate statistical inference coursework to the company's A/B testing framework" is concrete and academic. "Analyzing data to support product decisions" is not.

Mechanical Engineering: Reference thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, structural analysis, or materials science from coursework. Connect to specific product design or simulation work. "Applying finite element analysis methods from ME 510 to optimize the fatigue life of a bracket component through ANSYS simulation and design of experiments" is substantive.

Biotechnology / Life Sciences (Biology degree): Reference molecular biology techniques, assay development, experimental design, or bioinformatics methods from the academic program. "Applying CRISPR-Cas9 protocols developed in the graduate molecular genetics lab to validate target gene knockdowns in the company's oncology pipeline" connects academia to the work.

Oversight and Evaluation

Section 5 also requires a description of how the employer will oversee and evaluate the student. Generic answers here also raise red flags.

Weak: "The student will meet with their manager regularly."

Strong: "The student will have weekly one-on-one meetings with the supervising engineer to review technical progress. Monthly written performance reviews will assess the achievement of each stated learning objective. The student will present completed projects at the quarterly engineering all-hands. Progress will be measured against the milestones defined in this training plan."

Adjudicators are looking for evidence that the employer has an actual system for training and evaluation — not just a willingness to sign the form.

Material Changes Require a New I-983

The I-983 is not filed once and forgotten. Several events require drafting and submitting a new I-983 to your DSO within 10 days:

• Your employer gets acquired or changes its EIN
• Your primary supervisor changes
• You change employers
• Your compensation decreases (not proportional to an hours reduction)
• Your job duties change substantially
• You change your work location to a different address

Missing this reporting requirement is a status violation. It is one of the most common ongoing compliance errors, especially when a startup is acquired or restructured.

The Two Formal Self-Evaluations

At the 12-month mark and at the end of the 24-month extension (or upon leaving the position), you and your employer must complete formal written evaluations using Section 5 of the I-983. These evaluations assess your performance against the original objectives, note what you accomplished, and identify whether goals were modified during the period.

These must be submitted to your DSO. Failing to submit them is a status violation.

For complete sample I-983 training plans across multiple STEM fields, plus email templates for getting your employer's I-983 signature and E-Verify enrollment, see the US STEM OPT Extension Guide.

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