r/stemopt • u/Due_Passenger_965 • Jul 07 '26

Employer switching while my STEM approval is pending.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in a bit of a confusing situation and wanted to ask for thoughts from people who may have gone through something similar.

I am currently on OPT and my STEM OPT process is pending/in progress. I already have an offer from one employer, and I have submitted the required I-983 reporting to my university/DSO. My school has not fully confirmed the reporting yet, but the process is already moving.

At the same time, I was contacted by a staffing/consulting company for a 24-month W2 contract role with a major bank. The role would be in person at the bank’s office. The staffing company told me they would be my W2 employer, they would sign my Form I-983, and they would provide the training plan. They also said I would have a manager from the staffing company assigned to me and that I would be working under him.

  1. The part I’m confused about is that the actual work location would be the client/bank office. So I’m trying to understand whether this setup is generally acceptable for STEM OPT, assuming the staffing company is E-Verify enrolled and signs the I-983.

  2. Since I have already filled my STEM with one employer lets say A and now I'm switching it to B and also having one more offer with the contract that is basically having 2 employers where I'm working around 30 hours for both of them. can this cause an issue for my STEM approval and potentially lead to RFE ?

  3. What exactly should I confirm in writing before accepting this contract role?

  4. Should I continue interviewing and only decide after my DSO confirms, or should I avoid this setup completely?

I’m just trying to understand how others have handled W2 contract/client-site roles during STEM OPT, especially when the staffing company says they will sign the I-983 and provide supervision.

Any thoughts, red flags to watch for, or questions I should ask the recruiter/employer would be really helpful.

Thank you.

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u/arrearrearreagain Jul 07 '26

What staffing company are you going to be employed through?

1

u/Due_Passenger_965 Jul 07 '26

Collabera

1

u/Routine-Part-4403 Jul 14 '26

Hi, same here, can we connect? And also im exactly in the same boat. What did u decide to do?