What Actually Happens to Your STEM OPT If Your Employer Gets Acquired or Changes Their Company Name

This is something hundreds of STEM OPT candidates are dealing with right now and it barely gets discussed anywhere. If the company you work for gets acquired by another company, merges with someone else, or simply changes their legal business name your I-983 and your SEVP record still reflect the old employer information — and that mismatch is a compliance problem even if you are still sitting at the same desk doing the same job. The new entity may have a different E-Verify enrollment status, a different EIN, and a different legal name than what is on your paperwork. You need to notify your DSO immediately when any of this happens, verify that the new entity is enrolled in standard E-Verify, and get an updated I-983 and I-20 reflecting the correct employer before USCIS or an audit catches the discrepancy. Do not assume that because nothing changed in your day to day work that your paperwork is still valid — it may not be.

I am not an immigration lawyer and nothing in this post is legal advice — please talk to your DSO and consult a licensed immigration attorney for your specific situation.