What Does It Mean When a Recruiter Asks If You Can Work Corp-to-Corp (C2C) as an OPT STEM OPT Candidate

When a recruiter asks "can you work corp-to-corp" or C2C it means they want to pay a business entity instead of paying you directly as a person — so you would need to have your own LLC or corporation set up, and they would pay your business instead of your personal bank account. This usually happens when a client tells a staffing agency they need a software engineer, the agency finds you, but instead of putting you on anyone's payroll they want two businesses doing a deal with each other — their company pays your company, and your company pays you. Think of it like the organizer of a bake sale saying have your lemonade stand business send us an invoice and we will pay the business — your business gets the money and then you pay yourself from it. You are running a whole operation. For STEM OPT holders this is completely off limits the moment a recruiter brings it up — having your own business entity and getting paid through it is self-employment no matter how you frame it, and self-employment violates STEM OPT conditions. This arrangement is only available to people with unrestricted work authorization like citizens and green card holders.