An optical element assembly with integrally formed microlens is presented. A wafer is provided with a plurality of adjacent IC optical elements, each optical element having an optical transmission port in a wafer top surface. A microlens array is attached to the wafer top surface, so that each microlens in the array overlies a corresponding optical element optical transmission port. Then, a wafer of optical elements with attached microlenses is formed, where each microlens has a first lens surface adhering directly to a corresponding optical transmission port. Subsequent to forming the wafer of optical elements with attached microlenses, the wafer is diced forming a plurality of optical element assemblies. Each optical element assembly includes an optical element integrally formed with an attached microlens.