A method for actively aligning the components of an optoelectronic device. The optoelectronic device includes a first portion containing a laser and a second portion containing an optical element. In one embodiment, the optoelectronic device is a laser package having a header structure containing a laser and a header can containing a lens. The method includes transmitting an optical signal from the laser through the optical element and comparing the position of the optical signal relative to a reference in order to determine whether the optical coupling of the laser with the optical element is within a desired tolerance range.