This guide is a concise overview of the typical immigration process for international students in the US. While the US has many visa types, we focus on job-related visa options in this article.
In upcoming guides, we will discuss other visa pathways such as starting your own startup in the US, or the path to a US permanent residency or “green card”.
Contents
- F1 Visa: Becoming A Student
- CPT: For Internships & Campus Jobs
- OPT: For Starting A Job
- STEM Extension: Continuing Your Job
- H1B: The Work Visa (Capped)
- H1B Without the Lottery
- Summary
- Sources & Important Terms
F1 Visa: Becoming A Student
The F1 visa is the “student” visa. Any immigrant attending university (undergraduate, Master’s or PhD) as well as high school qualifies under this visa type.
Requirements:
- must be enrolled at a SEVP approved university
- must be enrolled full-time (evening classes or part-time courses usually do not qualify)
- must possess valid I-20 document and evidence of financial support
How & when do you apply for an F1 visa?
Step 1. Finalize which university you wish to attend.
Step 2. Once you officially accept a university offer, you will be asked to show proof of financial support. Simply put, this is the university asking you for proof of enough funds usually in the form of bank statements or loan sanction letters.
Step 3. If your proof of funds are satisfactory, then the university will send you a document known as I-20. This is the most important document for international students. (see Important Terminology for description)
Step 4: You can then use the I-20 to schedule your visa interview online. If your interview goes well, that is, you are not suspected of an intent to “permanently immigrate” to the United States, your visa will be approved!
(Note: we will be covering the visa interview itself in the coming months.)
Current Status
No changes have been made to the F1 visa program under President Trump.
The F1 visa allows you to be enrolled as a student and study at a university of your choice. However, for internships, co-ops or starting a job after graduation, you need to apply for different types of “work authorizations” (see Important Terminology section) that are attached to the F1 visa. These work authorizations are discussed below. They are intended to allow you to get a job in a field related to your degree, as well as give you time to apply to the H1B lottery.
CPT: For Internships & Campus Jobs
CPT refers to “Curricular Practical Training”. This is a type of work authorization that allows students to accept off-campus employment while being enrolled in their degree programs. Simply put, this is the work authorization that you apply for when you wish to do an internship or a co-op program.
Requirements:
- must have been enrolled at your university for at least two full consecutive semesters/terms, i.e. one full academic year
- must have a job offer that relates to your field of study
- must have approved health insurance
Key Facts
- On CPT, you get permission to work for total of 11 months and 29 days. Note that these are “full-time” (see Important Terminology). Two working days of a part-time job count as one full day from these 11 months and 29 days.
- Optional vs Mandatory CPT There are two types of CPT, optional and mandatory. Optional CPT is work experience that is related to your area of study (such as, say, mechanical engineering) but is not required for you to graduate. Mandatory CPT is work experience that is required to be completed before your graduation and is a requirement for the same. Mandatory CPT is usually a part of universities whose programs have a “Co-Op” component (see Important Terminology) to it. You can easily verify whether a particular degree or program has a mandatory CPT requirement or not by checking their program websites, emailing the university itself, or asking us here.
- Part-time vs Full-Time CPT: CPT given for employment where you work less than 20 hours a week (i.e. you are paid less than 20 hours worth of salary per week) is considered part-time. CPT given for employment where you work for more than 20 hours a week (i.e. you are paid for more than 20 hours worth of salary per week) is full-time CPT. Full-time CPT is only possible during the Summer for internships, since it is mandatory that you maintain active F1 status (see Important Terminology), that is, be an active student while applying for CPT. Part-time CPT is granted during Fall and Winter term for on-campus jobs, part-time internships, and co-op opportunities, among others.
- The company offering you an internship, or any entity offering you an on-campus or part-time job does not need to do anything in the CPT application process. This process is handled by you, the applicant, and the university. As such, CPT is very easy to get and poses no hassle for companies offering international students internships.
When do you apply for CPT?
You can only apply for CPT after you have been enrolled at your university for two consecutive semesters or one full academic year. This means that students who join a university in the Spring semester (for any confusion about what Spring/Fall means on the calendar, see Important Terms) cannot intern at a company in the Summer right after their first semester.
This can sometimes be a big disadvantage for your job prospects. Your first internship in the US is arguably the biggest factor in your ultimate job prospects (besides your level of interview preparation). On the other hand, students who join their university in the Fall semester can intern in the Summer because they would have completed two consecutive semesters by the time the Summer comes.
CPT applications are processed in 2 to 3 weeks maximum, and you are eligible to apply as soon as you have secured an internship or co-op offer. Note that you cannot apply for CPT until you have first secured an offer of internship or on-campus/part-time employment.
Current Status
No changes have been made to the F1 visa program under President Trump.
OPT: For Starting Your Job
OPT refers to “Optional Practice Training”. This is the work authorization that you receive for working after you have graduated, i.e. completed your degree. This is the authorization on which you will start your job after graduation.
Requirements:
- must have completed your degree. (though you apply for it in your last semester while still a student.)
- must not have used more than 11 months and 29 days of CPT
- F1 visa must be valid for OPT period; if your visa is expiring before/during OPT period, you must renew it
- must have valid health insurance
Key Facts
- OPT is provided for a period of 12 months.
- Pre-completion vs Post-Completion OPT There are two types of OPT: post-completion and pre-completion. Pre-completion refers to applying for and using 12 months of OPT before you graduate, while post-completion refers to using it after you graduate. For the sake of simplicity, we will only discussing post-completion OPT. This is because pre-completion OPT is rarely used. Usually, students use their CPT time period for internships and use their OPT time period for their jobs right after graduation.
- Part-time vs Full-Time CPT: You can apply for OPT without a job offer in hand. In fact, you are allowed a total of 90 days of unemployment of OPT. Thus, you can apply for and get OPT approved while still looking for a job after the approval date for upto 3 months.
- OPT is extremely flexible in terms of the types of job offers that make you eligible. You can get OPT approved for unpaid internships, volunteer work, freelancing, subcontracting, self-employment as well as working for multiple employers.
- Your company does not have to make any efforts to aid your OPT application. You are assisted by the university in the process, and much like CPT, OPT formalities concern you, the university and the Government. Thus, it is very easy for companies to hire students on OPT and does not pose any immediate hassle to them in any way.
When do you apply for OPT?
The earliest time to apply for OPT is 90 days before your date of graduation. It takes anywhere between 60 to 90 days for an OPT application to be processed and approved. Thus, it is always recommended to apply early, especially if you receive an RFE (see Important Terminology). The last date to apply for OPT is 60 days after your date of graduation.
Once your OPT is approved, you must continue to report any changes in employment (new offers, change in positions, etc.) to your university. Note that you do not need a job offer at hand to apply for OPT. You are provided with 90 days of unemployment on OPT. This is often used by students who may not have found a job - however, the counter on these 90 days of unemployment can very easily be stopped by taking up simple on-campus jobs. This way, you are employed on paper and your 90 days are intact, while you have enough time to continue to look for a job you desire.
Current Status:
No changes have been made to the OPT under President Trump.
STEM Extension: Continuing Your Job
STEM Extension refers to a 24 month extension available to international students with degrees in STEM courses. STEM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. A wide variety of courses are covered under the STEM umbrella, including and especially MS courses. This is an extension of the OPT work authorization. Thus, it takes the total post-graduation work authorization time available to international students to 36 months.
Requirements:
- must already have received OPT authorization
- must be working more than 20 hours a week
- must be a paid position related to your STEM field, and you must show an employer-employee relationship, i.e. unlike OPT, you cannot be self-employed
- your employer must be registered in the E-Verify program (see Important Terminology) and must implement a formal training program for you
Key Facts:
- STEM Extension is also relatively easy to get approved; as long as your employer’s training program is approved by the University’s international student office and you can show that the work you will be doing will be directly related to your degree, your application should be accepted.
- An additional requirement for STEM Extension compared to OPT is that your employer must show that you are being paid a similar wage to a US worker in that field or position.
- STEM Extension, along with the OPT period, provides you three years, i.e. three chances at the H1B lottery. This was one of the key reasons STEM Extension was institute in the first place under President George W. Bush Jr.
- During your period of employment, you must file an annual self-evaluation of how your training plan is going to your university’s international student office. Again, because this is a relationship that exists between your university and you once the STEM Extension has been approved, these formalities are relatively easy to satisfy.
- You are provided an additional 60 allowed days of unemployment on STEM Extension should you need it. Thus, in total, you have 150 days of unemployment: 90 days from OPT and 60 days from STEM extension.
- Almost all MS degrees qualify under STEM Extension. Regardless, it is a good idea to confirm this with your university’s international students’ office, or alumni, before you apply for a particular program or accept their offer.
When do you apply for STEM Extension?
The earliest time to apply for STEM Extension is 90 days before your date of OPT expiration. It takes anywhere between 60 to 90 days for the STEM Extension application to be processed and approved. Thus, it is always recommended to apply early. The last date to submit your application is the day of expiration of your OPT.
Current Status:
No changes have been made to STEM Extension under President Trump.
H1B: The Work Visa (Capped)
H-1B is one of the main work visas that allows immigrants to work in the US. H1B visas are meant for high-skilled immigrants to work in specialty positions (See Important Terminology) in the US. It is, in fact, called the the H-1B Specialty Occupation in official government terminology, highlighting the importance of the “high-skill” and “specialty occupation” requirement to be met for this visa to be approved.
There are two types of H1B visas: capped and cap-exempt. (See Important Terminology) In this section, we discussed the more common capped H1B visa.
Requirements:
- Specialty Occupation Requirement: As stated earlier, the intended goal of the H1B visa was to allow the US to be able to import the best talent from around the world. This goal has been somewhat strained in some ways by software outsourcing firms misusing the system. This has made the “specialty occupation” requirement even more important, and this screening has become stricter under President Trump. There are mainly two ways that an employer can prove that a position they are applying for is a specialty occupation:
- Bachelor’s or higher degree in a specific field (or its equivalent) is the minimum entry requirement for the position
- The degree requirement for the job is common to the industry, i.e. an employer cannot simply claim by themselves without adequate industry-wide data and peer companies having similar requirements to prove that a particular job requires at minimum, a Bachelor’s degree; alternatively, showing that the job is so complex or unique that it can only be performed by an individual with a Bachelor’s degree at minimum
- High-Skill Requirement:While the “Specialty Occupation” requirement assesses the complexity of the job an H1B applicant will be doing, the “High-Skill” requirement assesses the applicant itself. To meet the high-skill requirement, a candidate must meet at least one of the following requirements:
- have at least a Bachelor’s degree in the specified field required for the job from a US accredited university; or
- have at least a foreign equivalent of the same degree; or
- hold any associated license or certification (Government/state-issued) usually required for that position or field; or
- in the absence of a required Bachelor’s degree, have work experience that can be proven to be equivalent to degree, and have recognition of expertise in the specialty through a track record of holding positions of increasing responsibility in the field
Key Facts:
- The H1B visa is issued at first for 3 years; applicants are then eligible for a 3 year extension. Thus, in total, you can get 6 years on the H1B visa. Following this, you can keep getting 1 year extensions if you have an I-140 application pending. An I-140 application is the green card application, filed by your employer requesting permanent residency in the US for you. So if your H1B expires and you have not yet heard back from the Government about your green card application, you are eligible for 1 year extensions. However, if you have not field for your green card and your 6 year term of the H1B has ended, you need to spend at least one full year outside of the US to become eligible for the H1B visa again.
- The H1B visa is allocated through a “lottery” process. Every year, roughly 85, 000 H1B visas are issued. However, the total number of applications for the H1B visa (usually around ~200, 000) regularly exceed the number of slots available. This is where the lottery comes into play. Every application is assigned a random number, and is picked via a computer-generated random lottery system.
- Out of the 85, 000 visas, 65, 000 visas belong to the “General” Quota, and 20, 000 visas belong to the “Advanced Degree” quota. An applicant qualifies for the “Advanced Degree” quota if they have a Master’s degree or higher (i.e. PhD) from a US institution. It is important to note that a Master’s degree from a foreign institution does not count. These “Advanced Degree” applicants have their application go through a separate lottery for the 20, 000 visas. If their case is not picked for processing in that lottery, it is put into the “General” pool and they effectively get a second shot at the lottery in the same attempt. Thus, having a US Master’s degree vastly increases your chances of getting the H1B visa.
- A minor but important detail about the H1B application process is that the application is filed by your employer. Therefore, most of the legal and paperwork formalities have to be completed by your employer via their legal team or a hired lawyer. Thus, it is important to always be proactive when it comes to your H1B application and discuss with your manager as early as possible how & when to start the process. This also means that your employer will have to pay the fees associated with H1B (hence the term “sponsoring” an H1B visa). The total expenses usually come to anywhere between $5000 to $10000. By law, your employer cannot charge you, the employee, in any way for H1B related expenses.
- One of the common concerns about potential H1B changes have been the enforcement of a “salary cap”, i.e. a minimum salary offer that applicants must receive to be eligible for H1B. Firstly, this is a change that will require legislation. What that means is that it cannot be implemented by the President and his administration by himself. It will need to pass through both the US House and Senate, the Parliament-equivalents of the United States. This process of lawmaking is extremely complicated and difficult to implement; in fact, the President has had issues passing laws through both Houses already (as we saw with repealing Obamacare), and he eventually had to settle for other measures. Thus, any reports of this being implemented are false, and there currently seems little chance that this will be passed as a law. Secondly, there already do exist some basic “minimum wage” requirements for the H1B visa. Prior to filing the H1B, your employer must obtain what is called the Labor Condition Application, or LCA. In obtaining the LCA, your employer must show that you are being paid above the “prevailing wage” for your profession in that area. Prevailing wage simply means the “genera” salary paid for a position, say, software engineering, in a particular state, say, Massachusetts. The prevailing wage data for each profession and each state/region is available on: http://www.flcdatacenter.com/
This is an important factor to note, because many people have been extremely worried about the (unlikely) implementation of any sort of minimum wage. The reality, however, is that it already exists and is another way to determine the strength of both the applicant and the application. Thus, the higher you are paid compared to the prevailing wage, the better it is for your application. - Almost all MS degrees qualify under STEM Extension. Regardless, it is a good idea to confirm this with your university’s international students’ office, or alumni, before you apply for a particular program or accept their offer.
- If you get the H1B visa issued with one employer, but now have to change jobs and switch to another company, your new employer will need to file a fresh H1B petition for you. However, this petition will not need to go through the lottery again. As long as your new position meets all the H1B requirements discussed above, you will be able to get your H1B with a new employer. This process is also called the “H1B” transfer.
When do you apply for the H1B visa?
The USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services) start processing H1B applications in the first week of April. For 2018, April 2 is the first date of filing for applications.
Due to extremely high demand, the USCIS stops accepting applications within the first few days. Thus, it is important to plan your application ahead and make sure all documents and requirements are fulfilled. Most importantly, it is crucial to send the application to USCIS on time.
It usually takes anywhere between 2 to 6 months for an H1B application to be approved. You can expedite this process by filling for “Premium Processing”. “Premium Processing” simply means that you pay the USCIS an extra filing fee pf $1,225 for them to get back to you about the result of your application in a guaranteed 15 calendar days.
Note for MS Students
For international students - particularly those with a STEM degree (all MS degrees are considered STEM) - you have three years in total after your graduation. This includes 12 months of OPT and 24 months of STEM Extension. This means that you have 3 attempts at the H1B visa lottery. In fact, as a Master’s student, your chances of getting the H1B visa per lottery are much higher compared to other students due to the 20, 000 advanced degree exemption. Hence, among virtually all categories of students, you have the highest probability of getting the H1B visa.
Current Status:
The H1B visa has seen two key changes under the Trump administration:
- H1B Offsite Workers:
In a policy memorandum released on Feb 22 (you can read the memo here) the USCIS made documentation requirements for H1B offsite workers more stringent. This change is targeted towards H1B applicants who will be working at “third-party worksites”, i.e. a software consultancy firm such as Infosys placing an engineer at another company in the US. What this means is that these companies will now have to submit detailed documentation to convince the USCIS of the following things:
- that a legitimate employer-employee relationship is maintained while an H1B recipient is in the US
- there is a clear “non-speculative” plan and scope of the role that the H1B recipient will fulfill; this must be proven by providing documentation such as itineraries as well as details of the job to the USCIS
- the core function or job that the H1B recipient will be performing will be a specialty occupation
In simple terms, USCIS has tightened the regulations for companies such as Infosys and Wipro to get H1B visas for their employees. They will now need to produce far more documents and will go through much greater scrutiny in the process. Secondly, USCIS may decide to approve the H1B visa for such employees for a period of less than the usual 3 years. Again, this depends on an applicant from Infosys or Wipro being able to convince the USCIS that they need to be in the US for the full scope of 3 years. - H4 EAD:
The Trump administration has decided to terminate the H4 EAD program. H4 EAD, or H4 Employment Authorization Document, was a program that allowed the spouses of an H1B recipient to work in the US without applying for a separate H1B or another type of work visa. While H4 EAD has not yet been terminated and will likely be operational for this year, it is expected to be terminated by next year.
Overall, the gist of the changes made by the Trump Administration has been to make regulations with respect to H1B a lot more stringent to prevent the abuse of the system. This, however, is actually great news for students with a degree from the US - especially those with Master’s degree. It reduces the competition for H1B visas because applicants with a US-based employer have a much higher chance of getting the visa approved. Further, as stated earlier, a US degree (especially a Master’s or PhD) makes it easier an applicant meet the both the High-Skill and Specialty Occupation requirement as discussed earlier.
Cap-Exempt H1B
One of the lesser known facts about the H1B visa is that there are two “types” of H1B. The first is the capped H1B visa that we discussed in the section above. The term “cap” refers to the annual quota of 85,000 H1B visas that can be issued every year.
However, a second category of the H1B visa is called “cap-exempt”. This type of H1B visa differs from the capped H1B visa in several ways. Cap-exempt H1B is available only to individuals working at, as the USCIS outlines: 1. Institutions of higher education (i.e. universities), and 2. Non-profit organizations associated with the Government or an institute higher education (i.e. research labs).
Requirements:
In addition to meeting the requirements of the H1B discussed above, cap-exempt H1B has the following special requirements:
- the applicant must be employed by an institution of higher education, i.e. a university. This can include employment within the various administrative, IT, finance, and other departments at a university, including in teaching positions
- OR, they can be employed at a non-profit entity related to the Government or an institute of higher education, i.e. research labs, hospitals, medical centres, etc
Key Facts:
- there is no “cap” for this type of visa; thus, an unlimited number of cap-exempt H1B visas can be given every year
- you can begin employment immediately after your H1B being approved; there is no starting date requirements or window for application or length work authorization related processing times
When do you apply for the cap-exempt H1B?
There is no specific time window for applying for the cap-exempt H1B. As soon as you have an eligible offer of employment and your paperwork is ready, you can apply.
Overall, it can take anywhere between 2 to 6 months for the case to be processed. However, similar to the capped H1B, you can request for Premium Processing with an extra filing fee of $1,225. This will guarantee the processing of your cap-exempt H1B visa within 15 business days.
Current Status:
No changes have been made to the cap-exempt H1B visa under President Trump.
Conclusion & Next Steps
This guide is intended to give you a high-level understanding of the US immigration process for international students. Going forward, here are a few things you can do to prepare for your own visa-related processes and track any changes to policy in the future:
- Like Gradly’s Facebook page and subscribe to the Messenger bot. Going forward, we will be doing extensive updates on any changes related to immigration. These will be sent to you in your inbox.
- Check out our YouTube channel here . We will be holding a live session here on immigration in the coming days and take questions from both Fall 18 and Fall 19 applicants.
- While there are many sources that were researched into the making of this guide, we recommend Murthy Law’s blog as a way to read extensive legal analyses of any changes. Further, you can find official Government memos and updates from the USCIS news bulletin here .
We hope this guide is useful, clarifies misconceptions and alleviates any anxiety you may have had about coming to the US - especially as a Master’s applicant. Going forward, reserve judgment on any “rumored” change until you hear from us. We will keep you informed with any and all the facts - as they are released.
Stay tuned for more Gradly guides and our app launch!