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F1 Students - Employment

IMPORTANT Note: You may not work on or off campus unless you have specific permission from the Department of Homeland Security or OISSS. There are several types of employment that may be available to you as a benefit of your status. However, please be sure to check with the advisors in OISSS before considering employment of any kind.

Department of Homeland Security regulations do not necessarily distinguish between paid employment and volunteer work. It is safest for you to have authorization for your employment off campus regardless of whether or not you are being paid.

On-Campus Employment

Full-time students are allowed to work on campus, provided the work will not interfere with their full-time enrollment or delay their degree completion. Permission must be obtained from the Office of International Student and Scholar Services. At your request, we will review your eligibility and then issue a letter authorizing you to work on campus. If you do not already have one, you will need to present this letter (along with a letter of offer from your prospective employer) to the Social Security office so that you can get a social security number. The PSU Human Resources Office will also need to see the letter from our office authorizing your on-campus employment.

Federal regulations limit your on-campus employment to 20 hours per week while classes are in session. While you are in your annual vacation term, you may work full-time on-campus even if you choose to take a class or two (if you are enrolled full time in a term which would have been your vacation term, then you are not allowed to work full time on-campus). International students are eligible for non-work study positions on campus. A listing of these positions can be found in the Office of Financial Aid in the Lobby of Neuberger Hall and at Human Resources on the 3rd floor of the University Services Building. New international students are immediately eligible to work on-campus as soon as they report to the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, but no sooner than 30 days prior to the start of the term. Transfer students may work on campus as soon as PSU has issued an I-20 for them.

Off-Campus Employment

Practical training is off-campus employment in a student's major field of study. You are eligible for practical training if you have been enrolled full-time for at least 9 months and are in F-1 status at the time you apply for practical training. There are two types of practical training: Curricular and Optional.

Curricular Practical Training (CPT)

• This type of practical training can be an internship, co-op, practicum, or professional experience listed as a course in your curriculum. It may be for full-time or part-time employment and must be credit bearing. The credit must count toward degree completion. Because CPT is credit-bearing, you may only use CPT before you've met your degree requirements. Please note, if you complete 12 months of full-time curricular practical training, you are not eligible for any period of Optional Practical Training. Authorization for CPT employment is obtained from ISS.
  
• In order to be eligible for CPT, you must be in F-1 status and have been enrolled 9 consecutive months, unless your academic program requires that all students in the program begin an internship earlier. At PSU, there is currently only one program which requires that students begin their practical experience before 9 months have passed. This is the Master in Social Work Program.
  
• CPT is authorized by ISS. Please click here to download a CPT Application Packet and be sure to attend an OPT/CPT workshop.

UPDATED APRIL 2008 TO REFLECT CAP-GAP AND 17-MONTH EXTENSION INFORMATION!!

Optional Practical Training (OPT)

• You are eligible for OPT if you have been enrolled full-time for 9 consecutive months and are in F-1 status at the time you apply for OPT. The training needs to be work that is directly related to your field of study. As an F-1 student, you are eligible for 12 months of OPT following completion of required coursework for the degree program.
  
• Because OPT is authorized by the Citizenship and Immigration Service, Processing can take as long as 4 months (although 2-3 months is a more standard processing time). You can either check on line https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/index.jsp to see what the current processing times are, or you can ask at ISSS. Before your application is submitted to the CIS processing center, your international student advisor will review your application, verify your immigration status, and, if these things are in order, issue a new I-20 on which your OPT period is recommended.
  
• We highly recommend that you attend an OPT/CPT workshop in the term BEFORE you intend to graduate. Give careful thought to when you wish to begin OPT - once we've made our recommendation and sent your application to the CIS Service Center, there is very little that can be done to change those dates. Please meet with your academic advisor (and an advisor in the UASC if you are an undergraduate student) to be sure that you have really met your graduation requirements. Once OPT has been authorized, it cannot be cancelled - if you graduate later than expected then you will essentially lose 3 months of full-time employment authorization.
• Please note!! The April 8, 2008 regulations place a limitation on the amount of time a student can be UNEMPLOYED during their authorized period of OPT. If approved for OPT, you are not allowed to be unemployed for more than 90 days within your initial 12-month period of OPT. If your total time unemployed exceeds 90 days, you are considered to be in violation of your immigration status and will have to go home. If you apply for and are granted a 17-month extension, you will be given an additional 30 days for a total of 120 days unemployed in a 29-month period.
  
• Please click here to download an OPT application packet!

CAP-GAP Provisions (updated April 2008)

• If your employer has sponsored you for an H1B visa and your OPT period ends before the H1B has been approved, then new F-1 regulations (effective April 8, 2008) allow you to continue working for that employer until the H1B becomes valid, is denied or is revoked. This new provision effectively removes the cap-gap which previously ensued for those students whose OPT ended before their H1B became valid.
• If your employer has sponsored you for an H1B visa in a timely manner, then you are NOT eligible to apply for the 17-month extension, because your employment authorization and immigration status are covered by the cap-gap provision.

17-month OPT extension (updated May 2008)

• If your employer was not able to file an H1b application on your behalf before the fiscal year cap was reached, then it may be possible for you to apply for a 17-month extension of your OPT period IF your PSU degree was awarded in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics degree. Please see the list of eligible majors located on the OISSS website.
• In addition to checking if your field of study is eligible, you must be within your initial 12-month period of OPT and currently employed, your employer must participate in the E-Verify program, and you may not have previously benefited from a 17-month extension.
• Filing instructions are located on our website.
• Please note that in order to file, you must provide CIS with a copy of your conferred degree (your diploma) and your employer's name as it appears in E-Verify and their employer identification number. If your employer does not participate in E-Verify, then you are not eligible for an extension.
• When applied for, the extension becomes valid the day after your 12-month period of OPT ends and you may continue working until your receive notice of denial or until 180 days pass. You need not wait for formal approval.
• Students approved for the 17-month extension must verify their employment with OISSS every 6 months.
• In addition to notifying us of your address/name changes, you will also have to notify us if your employer changes or if you stop working.
• Please note! These regulations are very new and we are learning new information about them each day. We may not yet have answers to all of your questions, but we are doing our very best to have the most accurate and up-to-date information for you. Questions are flowing in from students, advisors, employers, and attorneys across the country. It will be a busy spring. We ask for your patience as we sort out these new rules.

OPT Reporting Requirements (updated April 2008)

• While authorized for OPT, students continue in F1 status and are therefore still required to update their address with the school within 10 days of moving. You may do this using the PSU Banweb system. This information will be forwarded to us and we will report it daily to the federal government.
• Under the new regulations, F1 students are required to report to their international student advisor when they have found employment, their employer's name and the address at which they are working. You must do this within 10 days of starting your new job. Please report this information to the following e-mail address: psuopt@pdx.edu.
• The April 2008 regulations also require you to report to us if your employment ends. This is to help track the 90 days of unemployment you are allowed during your 12-month OPT period. Please use the psuopt@pdx.edu address to report this information as well.
• If you are granted a 17-month extension, you are required to verify that your address and employer information is accurate every 6 months while in your OPT period. You should use the psuopt@pdx.edu address to do this.

Economic Hardship

• If you have experienced a severe and unforeseen change in your economic situation caused by circumstances beyond your control, you may apply for this special type of work authorization. Economic Hardship work authorization allows students to work off campus for 20 hours per week while school is in session (40 hours per week during vacation breaks) in any job to offset the unforeseen economic crisis. If granted, authorization is given in one-year increments and may be renewed.
  
• In addition to meeting the eligibility requirement, you are eligible to apply for Economic Hardship work authorization if you are in good academic standing and have been a full-time, F-1 student for 9 consecutive months.
  
• Severe economic hardship caused by unforeseen circumstances beyond your control may include a loss of tuition waiver, loss of on-campus employment, substantial fluctuation in the value of currency or the exchange rate from your home country, unexpected changes in the financial condition of your source of support, medical bills, or other substantial and unexpected expenses. An increase in tuition does not constitute an unforeseen economic need.