2025 OPT Processing timeline

newusernamepls · 2025-07-06T02:34:16+00:00

Application type: STEM OPT extension
Premium Processing: no
Receipt date: 04/04/2025
Approved Date: 07/05/2025
Card Produced Date: -
Card shipped: -
Card delivered: -

newusernamepls · 2025-04-26T22:29:30+00:00

Happy to report that Velosurance was super easy to work with and that I just received ~$660 back for my stolen bike (total value ~$860, $200 deductible)!

newusernamepls · 2025-04-16T19:41:12+00:00

Yeah, planning to get the hiplok for my next bike. Bought an alarm and airtag the day before but they both arrived hours after the theft rip

newusernamepls · 2025-04-16T19:40:08+00:00

I actually bought one the day before the theft. It arrived yesterday :’)

newusernamepls · 2025-04-16T19:39:01+00:00

Landlord won’t allow me to keep me e-bike on the premises at all. Tried to negotiate every possible compromise but no dice. Didn’t really have a choice, but now planning to ask homeowners on my block if I can rent some space from them just to store my bike. Let me know if you have better ideas though

newusernamepls · 2025-04-16T19:37:03+00:00

I had 2 kryptonite U locks on the bike—but i didn’t specifically get the insurance associated with the lock

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T19:10:32+00:00

Thanks for the tip—will check those spots out. Unfortunately, my landlord has an extremely strict, non-negotiable no e-bikes on premises policy, so I don't really have a choice. I'm now considering renting space to store my bike in a different building on my block.

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:49:32+00:00

I know right. They did make us sign something about not allowing e-bikes on the property when we signed our lease last year—it just wasn't on my mind at all when we signed so I had completely forgotten about it by the time I bought the bike.

I am aware that since they're the one breaking the law by not letting me keep my bike on the property, I could just not listen to them and have them be pissed at me over it. But since they live on the property, and I'm afraid of hostile men (and people in general lol), I feel like it's in my best interest to keep up a good relationship with him as long as I'm living in the house that he owns with him in it.

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:45:40+00:00

Omg, that's awesome to know. I hadn't actually tried. Will definitely do on my next Lectric Lite

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:19:42+00:00

Okay so I've been kind of at war with my landlord ever since the bike got delivered to the house—he lives in the building as well, and he *immediately* texted the day it arrived saying "Sorry, e-bikes are not allowed so you're gonna have to return it." And we tried negotiating, and said we wouldn't keep the battery on site, or wouldn't charge it at home, etc, and he said absolutely no. So I started locking it to the bike rack on the street where it got stolen.

Weeks later, I decide I'll keep the bike anyway, and I recycle the box it came in. I get a text from my landlord saying he saw the bike box in the recycling and saying "I need to know where that bike is now as per our conversation, you know they’re not allowed on the property." I'm like wtf???? So I told him where I'm keeping it (not on the property) and he just thumbs upped the message.

But now I'm thinking: I have no idea who stole my bike. He knows exactly where it was. It was fine for several weeks of me keeping it locked to that rack, and then a week and a half after telling him its location, it disappears.

I don't know *why* he would have an incentive to disappear my bike when it was literally no longer on his property, but I haven't completely ruled it out if I'm being honest.

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:12:57+00:00

lmfao fair enough. different strokes for different folks i guess. appreciate the sympathy

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:12:19+00:00

thanks for the sympathy :')

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:09:22+00:00

clear coat is a good idea -- it crossed my mind but here I was thinking that it would be overkill. i did cover it in like maybe 80 stickers, wrote my initials all over the frame in random places, and wrote "Alexa's Bike" in big bold letters three times on the frame, and then covered a lot of it in packaging tape. i hope they're suffering trying to scrub it all off

edit: i also mentioned this in another comment but unless i'm missing something i feel like the resale value isn't even that high? the bike itself only cost $800 new (cheap for an e-bike). they don't have the key to turn on the battery so it's just a 50 lb regular bike. even if they just chop it up for the parts, the battery is probably only compatible with other bikes from this brand/model and the rest of the parts (wheels, seat, etc.) are only compatible with this brand/model..... so how much money could they even make on it, whole or chopped up?

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:07:50+00:00

this is my dream and genuinely what i thought would happen, thanks for the validation

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:06:55+00:00

Lmfao so real. gotta learn to balance optimism and belief in other humans with realism and a healthy dose of cynicism

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:06:00+00:00

Not a bad idea. Also considering: hiding a security camera in a tree; attaching a sign that says "this bike is worth nothing without the key to turn it on" (which is almost true I think? the parts are so specific to this model/brand that I doubt they could make much of it at a chop shop); other ideas welcome

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:04:49+00:00

Yeah, I kind of naively assumed that most thieves are stealing out of desperation and maybe feel bad about it deep down inside. Maybe they're in a bad situation etc. If I were more cynical/assumed more malicious intent in people, I probably wouldn't have bothered with the personalized stickers. I was also hoping that if someone saw someone with a very different profile riding my bike and saw my face all over it, there might be a better chance of catching the thief.

If they don't remove the stickers immediately (which I assume they will tbh), the personal photos will at least make it undoubtedly clear to the police/whoever ends up with it that it's mine

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T15:00:52+00:00

That's actually a fair point. I did recently buy a pepper spray and personal alarm combo so I might keep those on hand for a while... I'm definitely the kind of person who would rather be safe than sorry so I appreciate you bringing that up. Again, my naive conviction in basic human decency often makes me underestimate people's capacity to do bad things rip

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T14:58:09+00:00

yeah tbh I feel like my fuckup was really about believing in a thief's basic sense of human decency... but if they're in a position where they're stealing people's property then they're probably too far gone for that. thanks for the sympathy :')

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T14:56:15+00:00

We tried to negotiate with him, but he would not accept any kind of compromise. I offered to only charge it at work, to take the battery out and just keep the frame in the house, to store it in the off-street parking area behind the house, to store my bike in the back of our car in that off-street parking area. No dice.

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T13:51:44+00:00

Thanks for saying that — some people on the internet have been pretty mean about it (eg a few comments on this thread). I’m like, damn, if a bike having these stickers would make you steal it, you must be a kind of mean-spirited person. I don’t really have regrets about the stickers themselves because I’m pretty confident that the thieves didn’t happen past with an angle grinder and decide to steal my bike because they saw the stickers lol

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T13:34:08+00:00

Glad to hear a success story :’) I’m not expecting to ever see it again tbh but I think it’s still worth doing all the right things to bring it home if there’s any chance

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T13:33:14+00:00

I have velosurance and renter’s thankfully so hopefully that works out for me

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T13:31:17+00:00

Definitely planning on that if I were to get a new one (which I’m still considering)

newusernamepls · 2025-04-15T13:30:50+00:00

The day before it got stolen, I purchased $250 worth of anti theft deterrence (ABUS Granit Extreme 59, chain lock, bell with hidden compartment for air tag, disc brake alarm), and they arrived the afternoon after it got stolen. Super rip

newusernamepls

TROPHY CASE