EMPLOYMENT OPTIONS FOR F-1 STUDENTS
F-1 STUDENT EMPLOYMENT OPTIONS
Updated February 2007
The regulations of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) provide for five categories of employment benefits for students in F-1 status:
1. On-Campus employment
2. Curricular Practical Training (CPT) employment
3. Optional Practical Training (OPT) employment
4. Employment authorized due to Severe Economic Hardship
- Employment with an International Organization
Definition of “employment”
Employment is any work performed or services provided in exchange for money, tuition, books, supplies, room and board, or any other benefit or compensation. Only if you will receive absolutely no benefit or compensation of any kind at any time is an activity considered by the USCIS to be “unpaid volunteering.” Unauthorized employment is a serious violation of student status. Please contact the International Programs Office if you ever have any questions or any doubt about whether you are authorized to accept an offer of employment.
1. EMPLOYMENT ON CAMPUS
You do not need any special authorization to work on campus. You may work part-time (up to 20 hours per week) during the academic year and full-time (21 hours or more) during winter break and in the summer if your I-20 is valid, you are in good academic standing, and you are enrolled full time. Enrollment is not required during winter break or summer session, but you must not have graduated and must be eligible to enroll for the following semester.
On-campus employment is generally not permitted after you graduate. However, if you are transferring between schools or are in transition between degree programs, you may continue on-campus employment provided you have been issued an I-20 for the new program of study and you intend to enroll for the next academic term following an authorized vacation. For example, if you complete a bachelor’s degree in May and have been issued an I-20 to begin a master's program in August, you may work on campus during the summer. Similarly, if the new I-20 is from a different school, you may work either on the campus of the new school or at SUNY Cortland until classes begin at the new school.
NOTE: “On-campus” employment also includes employment at an off-campus location which is “educationally affiliated” with SUNY Cortland (i.e., the educational affiliation is either associated with your academic department's established curriculum or related to contractually-funded projects) AND is an integral part of your educational program.
2. CURRICULAR PRACTICAL TRAINING (CPT)
If you have been enrolled full time at SUNY Cortland for at least nine consecutive months (or are in a course of study requiring an internship at the beginning of your program) you may request International Programs authorization for employment in an internship or cooperative education program that is “integral to the established curriculum” of your academic department. Required internships must be clearly identified and described in the course catalogue or similar publication. Internships and internship-like cooperative education programs which are awarded academic credit do not need to be required.
Curricular practical training may be authorized on either a full-time (employment over 20 hours per week) or a part-time basis. Part-time CPT must be undertaken concurrent with a full course of study. Full-time CPT does not require full-time enrollment. Students who have been authorized for one year or more of full-time CPT are no longer eligible for OPT.
For more detailed information, see the International Program’s information packet on Curricular Practical Training.
3. OPTIONAL PRACTICAL TRAINING (OPT)
After you have been enrolled full time at SUNY Cortland for at least nine consecutive months, you may apply to the USCIS for up to 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) authorization to accept employment related to your field of study. Full-time or part-time OPT is available:
- After completion of a course of study, and
- Before completion of studies if engaged in thesis or dissertation research.
Part-time OPT is deducted from the 12-month OPT maximum at the rate of one month for every two months of part-time OPT authorization. Although full-time or part-time OPT authorization is also available during the summer and over winter break (and on a part-time basis during the regular academic year), it is rarely sought due to the lengthy time required for USCIS issuance of the required Employment Authorization Document (EAD).
For more detailed information, see the International Program’s information packet on Optional Practical Training. Please be prepared to plan ahead for the fact that it may take the USCIS more than three months to issue your OPT Employment Authorization Document (EAD).
NOTE: As of 2/07, it is taking the USCIS Vermont Service Center up to 3 months to issue OPT EADs. A SUNY student can obtain an “interim EAD” from the USCIS office in if s/he has waited more than 90 days for the actual OPT EAD.
4. SEVERE ECONOMIC HARDSHIP
Should you suffer economic hardship due to “unforeseen financial circumstances beyond your control” after you have been in F-1 status for one academic year, you can apply to the USCIS for authorization to work off campus (or on campus for more than 20 hours) in any job you can find (i.e., even one unrelated to your studies). Examples of unforeseen circumstances include "loss of financial aid or on-campus employment without fault on the part of the student, substantial fluctuations in the value of currency or exchange rate, inordinate increases in tuition and/or living costs, unexpected changes in the financial condition of the student's source of support, medical bills, or other substantial and unexpected expenses."
For more detailed information, see the International Programs information sheet “F-1 Off-Campus Work Due to Severe Economic Hardship.” Please note that there is a USCIS fee for issuance of a Severe Economic Hardship EAD, and that it may take the USCIS more than three months to issue the EAD.
5. EMPLOYMENT WITH AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
If you are offered employment with an international organization, as defined by the International Organization Act, you may apply to the USCIS for employment authorization. Again, note that there is a USCIS fee for issuance of an EAD for employment with an international organization, and that it may take the USCIS more than three months to issue the EAD.