S3 Blog: SEVIS Release Date Explained: Why It's the Most Important Date in Your Transfer

Your SEVIS release date is the date your SEVIS record moves from your current school to your new school. It is set through your current DSO in coordination with the new school’s DSO. On that date, work authorization tied to your old record, including OPT, ends, even if your EAD card shows a later date. The new school cannot issue your I-20 or authorize CPT until it has your record. That is why a wrong date can create a gap.

Two mistakes cause most transfer problems: releasing too early (your old work authorization ends before your new CPT begins) and releasing too late (you run into a grace-period, unemployment-day or five-month limit).

What the release date is, and who sets it
• You request it. You tell your current DSO which school you are transferring to and provide the new school’s admission letter and SEVIS school code.
• Your current DSO enters it in SEVIS with the new school and the release date. Your DSO and the new school’s DSO choose the date with you; check it with your consultant before you agree.
• Until the release date, the new school cannot update your record or issue your I-20. After it, your old school can no longer update it.
• A transfer-in form is not the same as a release. Many new schools ask for a transfer-in form to check your status. Submitting it does not move your SEVIS record.

What ends on the release date
All authorization attached to your old school’s record ends, including on-campus work, CPT from that school, and OPT or STEM OPT. This is true regardless of the end date on the EAD card.
⚠️ OPT DOES NOT “CARRY OVER” OR “ACTIVATE” ON TRANSFER One call suggested transferring SEVIS activates OPT. That is incorrect. OPT ends at release. You may not work after release until the new school authorizes CPT, and CPT may begin only on or after the start date on your new I-20.

Some schools also ask for a few business days of notice before a release date, and some prefer the release earlier than the first day of class. Those are school practices, not federal rules. A call statement that a release “takes an hour” or “must be a week before term” reflects one school’s experience. Ask both DSOs.

Anonymous example: A student starting a new program in January may need to coordinate the release several weeks in advance. If the release is set in early December but CPT cannot begin until after the program start in January, there may be a month with no authorized work. Mapping both dates first makes that visible.

Step by step
1. Get the admission letter from the new school.
2. Ask the new school’s DSO what it needs, and its preferred timing for the release.
3. List your own limits: OPT end date, unemployment days used, grace-period end, program start date.
4. Ask your current DSO for the transfer request process and notice time.
5. Agree a release date with both DSOs, after your consultant has checked it against all your limits.
6. Submit the request and keep written confirmation of the date.
7. After the release, check that your new school shows your record, and complete the I-20 and registration steps.
8. Request CPT from the new DSO, and do not begin work until it is authorized.

What not to do
• Do not choose a release date alone.
• Do not release “because you were admitted” (see Article 3).
• Do not request transfers to more than one school. Only one transfer school can receive the record.
• Do not assume a late release is harmless if your OPT unemployment days are close to the limit.
• Do not travel without knowing which I-20 you will use to re-enter.

Bottom line
Treat the release date as the anchor of your transfer. Map your limits, agree the date with both DSOs and your consultant, and do not work after release until the new school authorizes CPT.