Can non-American students enrolled in a US university but attending only online courses (COVID) do a summer 2021 internship in the US via CPT or OPT?

Question

I'm reading on https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/506072-ice-tells-students-on-visas-they-must-leave-us-if-schools-go-online (mirror) that the US government has the bright idea to refuse students of purely online courses (e.g., Harvard University) to stay in the US for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Can these students still do a summer 2021 internship in the US via CPT or OPT, as they used to be able to in the past?

The July 6, 2020 Broadcast Message from SEVP says that students who take a full courseload online but remain outside of the US "may remain in Active status in SEVIS", so that could be taken as some reassurance on this. However, considering how many rule changes the Trump administration has made since COVID started, I think it very likely that the rules will change again before summer 2021. With such uncertainty, it's advisable to have alternative contingency plans. — krubo, Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 17:23
@krubo thanks, hopefully the US government can make up their mind soon otherwise it's going to be a mess to hire interns (which we prefer to do in fall). — Franck Dernoncourt, Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 19:05

DavidRecallsMonica · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-17 02:17:05Z

1

The administration has changed its mind, and rescinded the rule change.

answered Jul 17, 2020 at 2:17

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