Your OPT timeline. A clearer plan.

No. OPT Buddy is not a law firm, we do not give legal advice, and no attorney client relationship is created by using this product. We do three things: we compute your dates from your own documents, we check those documents against published USCIS requirements, and we show you the official source behind every rule we state. Only a licensed immigration attorney, or a representative accredited by the Department of Justice, can advise you on your specific case. When your situation needs one, we say so and we help you assemble the file.

Every planning date and deadline, every official source link, the 90 day unemployment counter and the Extension of Stay checker stay free. Manual document preparation, guided DSO and I-983 templates, calendar export and automatic account saving stay free too. The standalone Extension of Stay checker remains available without an account.

The workspace requires a free account and sign-in, not a credit card. Pro adds urgent help and notice triage, AI-assisted drafting and document field scans. Urgent help and notice triage require sign-in and Pro. Triage organizes the notice facts and deadlines you enter using fixed rules and helps you prepare for a DSO or attorney conversation. Enhanced online RFE assistance is not built or included. Your case details, drafts, checklist progress and preferences automatically save to your private account while signed in.

Whenever the answer depends on what SEVIS says about you. Your DSO is the only person who can enter an OPT recommendation, issue an endorsed I-20, see your SEVIS record, or unlock your SEVP Portal account. We compute, we check, and we draft the message you send. Your DSO decides. This software is not the authority, and neither is any other software. We mark every answer that needs your DSO with a yellow flag and give you the exact question to ask, with your SEVIS ID and your dates already in it.

The published rule reduces the post-completion OPT filing window and latest requested start date from 60 days after program completion to 30 days. It adds an extension-of-stay procedure, with an exemption for certain students admitted for duration of status who are present on the effective date and timely file by March 18, 2027. This app models the published September 15, 2026 effective date; current guidance and court status have not been fully verified. Confirm the rule and transition conditions with your DSO.

The 90-days-before earliest filing date did not change, and the separate 30 day clock that starts when your DSO enters the recommendation in SEVIS did not change either.

Source: DHS final rule, 91 FR 44976, published July 17, 2026. Published text, USCIS form acceptance alerts and G-1055 fees were checked September 12, 2026; current court status remains unverified. USCIS selects form editions by paper postmark or electronic submission date, not a paper receipt date. Confirm current instructions before filing.

When billing is available, use the cancellation or pause controls on Account billing. You can reach billing after signing in, even before completing case setup. Pro is month to month, with no annual contract. Cancelling does not delete your saved timeline. A refund request is separate from cancellation. Read the refund policy before purchase. Email support@optbuddy.app for account, billing, cancellation, refund, privacy, or accessibility requests. You can also use the contact form and save its private request link to read our reply. Do not include immigration documents, card numbers, passwords, or recovery credentials.

While signed in, your case details, drafts, checklist progress and preferences automatically save to your private account in Supabase. Document files save when you select or upload them. Wait for “Saved” before closing the page; unsaved changes can be lost. We do not send your case to USCIS, SEVP, your school, or your employer as part of this service. Necessary service providers include Supabase, Vercel, Anthropic, Stripe, and email providers. The privacy page explains what each receives through the features you choose, and disclosures required by law or needed to protect the service. The assisted draft controls send the fields named beside them; a document scan sends the document you select. Neither runs unless you press its control. We do not train on your documents, sell personal data, or run ads. Export and deletion controls are on your Case file page, and a failed cleanup can require a retry. The privacy policy explains retained records, older encrypted device records and the limits of deletion.

Because a general chatbot answers from memory, and the memory is out of date. The rule that changes post-completion OPT was published on July 17, 2026 and takes effect on September 15, 2026, which means most models and most explainers on the internet describe only the 60 day deadline, which governs filings USCIS receives through September 14, 2026 and not one received after it. A chatbot also has no state: it does not know what you uploaded last month, it cannot recompute your dates when your program end date moves, and it will happily produce a regulatory citation that does not exist. OPT Buddy holds one case record, computes dates in deterministic code rather than by generation, refuses to assert a volatile fact without a fresh source, and shows you the .gov page behind every claim with the date we read it. When we do not know, we write that we do not know. When two official sources disagree, we show you both and apply the shorter figure.

We do not file anything, sign anything, or submit anything on your behalf. We never contact your DSO, your employer, or USCIS for you. We never hold your credentials for USCIS, SEVIS, the SEVP Portal, or your school. We never collect a government filing fee: you pay USCIS directly. We never predict an adjudication outcome, promise an approval, or claim to speed up USCIS, because nobody can do that and anybody who says otherwise is not being straight with you. We never state a processing time as fact; we link the live USCIS estimate for your category. And we do not draft substantive responses to a request for evidence or a notice of intent to deny. Composing an argument that you satisfy a legal standard inside a live adjudication is legal work, and we will not do it at any price. Pro notice triage organizes the facts you supply and points you to qualified help; it does not replace that help.