When our client received a decision from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, they expected approval of their STEM OPT work authorization. Instead, USCIS denied the application.

Our client had done everything the system asks of an international student. They had earned an MBA from a top university with a quantitative specialization. They had landed a role at a major technology company. Their post-completion OPT was already underway, and they applied for the 24-month STEM OPT extension available to eligible graduates in DHS-designated STEM fields.

USCIS denied the application because it concluded that the MBA was not a STEM degree. With that single conclusion, USCIS put our client’s employment authorization, position, and lawful status on the line. Our client retained the Law Offices of Sabrina Li. USCIS later reopened the case and approved the extension in 2026.

Why a STEM OPT Denial Requires Prompt Action

For an international graduate, work authorization is not a perk — everything else depends on it. A STEM OPT denial can mean the abrupt loss of the right to work, which in turn can cost the job, which in turn can unravel status and force departure from the country. Employers, too, feel it: a team loses a trained employee, sometimes with little warning.

The denial did not identify missing paperwork. USCIS concluded that the degree did not qualify. Our response therefore focused on the legal and factual basis for that conclusion.

STEM OPT Eligibility and the CIP Code

The central issue was how USCIS evaluated the degree.

An eligible F-1 student may apply for a 24-month extension of post-completion OPT based on a qualifying bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree. For the degree-field requirement, DHS uses the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code reported by the school in SEVIS and printed on the student’s Form I-20. DHS publishes the qualifying codes in the STEM Designated Degree Program List.

For example, CIP code 52.1399 — Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Other — appears on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List. A program reported under a listed code satisfies the degree-field component of an extension request.

Our client’s program was reported under a CIP code on the DHS list. USCIS’s denial did not address that code. Instead, it reasoned that a STEM OPT extension is reserved for students whose major degree is STEM, and that a quantitative concentration inside an MBA does not qualify. On close review, that reasoning did not hold up against the regulation that actually governs — and that became the basis for challenging the denial.

How We Challenged the Denial

We filed a motion to reopen on Form I-290B under 8 C.F.R. § 103.5.

A motion to reopen must state new facts supported by affidavits or other documentary evidence. It generally must be filed within 30 calendar days of the decision, or 33 days if the decision was mailed, although the decision notice and current Form I-290B instructions should always be checked. We filed within the stated deadline.

The filing combined a targeted legal argument with documentation from our client, the school, and the employer. We selected the evidence to address the reason USCIS gave for the denial. The appropriate record depends on the decision and the facts of each case.

USCIS reopened the case and approved the extension, allowing our client to continue working.

What STEM-Coded MBA Graduates Can Learn

This case illustrates a risk for graduates whose qualifying CIP code may not be obvious from the degree title. Applicants in quantitative or analytics-focused MBA programs, business analytics programs, management science programs, and similar fields should check the CIP code on the Form I-20 against the current DHS list.

Three practical lessons follow from this case.

First, the CIP code is your anchor. Before you file, confirm the CIP code on your Form I-20 and check it against the current DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List.

Second, a denial premised on a legal error can be challenged — but only if the legal error is identified and addressed. Answering it with the right authority, on the record and inside the deadline, is what could turn a denial around.

Third, act quickly. Form I-290B deadlines are short, and a late filing may eliminate or narrow the available options.

Get a Prompt Review of a STEM OPT Denial

A STEM OPT denial can disrupt employment and immigration plans, but the denial notice may provide a way to challenge the decision. As our client’s case shows, a denial built on the wrong legal question can be reopened and reversed when it is challenged correctly, with the right evidence, inside the deadline.

At the Law Offices of Sabrina Li, we help F-1 graduates, STEM OPT applicants, and employers respond to denials, Requests for Evidence, and Notices of Intent to Deny. We prepare filings tailored to the decision, the record, and the applicable rules. If you have received a STEM OPT denial, or want your CIP code and eligibility reviewed before filing, contact us promptly to discuss the available options.

Contact the Law Offices of Sabrina Li at (213) 375-8096, call our Chinese-language hotline at (626) 800-4820, email csteam@sabrinali.law, or visit sabrinali.law.