Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - International Student Starting a Business in the US?

Hsiang-Lin · 01-07-2007, 04:55 AM

Hey sorry guys for the late reply. I had some serious issues with family and it was just more important to take care of that first.

nvictor,

If you have a F-1 visa, you should be eligible to work on campus as long as you have a social security # (which I have) or other requirements (which I'm not aware of). I think each school has a similar policy as below:

1) CPT (curricular practical training) - Basically any work you find that is related to your major such as professor research or a company internship counts as this. You are normally offered enough hours here such that you can work during the summers and during the school year AS LONG AS the job is related to your major AND you are still enrolled in the school.

2) OPT (optional practical training) - Basically you have 1 year of this to work at your new job and get sponsorship for a H1-B visa wherein you can start from there to get your greencard. Or you can use the 1 year to find a job that will sponsor your H1-B visa, which naturally means that ideally you want to have a job already that will sponsor you the H1-B visa and this 1 year is just a safety option and won't be used.

3) On-campus employment - this is normally limited to ~20 hours/week during the school year or ~40 hours/week for breaks. It differs by school so check with your international student office.

Right now I'm focusing on on-campus employment and CPT. OPT will not be useful for me until after I graduate. I imagine it would be the same for you. Don't take all this as concrete information though.

Most importantly, check everything with your international student office.

I found all this information from their website and doing a bit of research online with the H1-B visa.

01-07-2007, 04:55 AM	#9 (permalink)
Hsiang-Lin Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 261	Hey sorry guys for the late reply. I had some serious issues with family and it was just more important to take care of that first. nvictor, If you have a F-1 visa, you should be eligible to work on campus as long as you have a social security # (which I have) or other requirements (which I'm not aware of). I think each school has a similar policy as below: 1) CPT (curricular practical training) - Basically any work you find that is related to your major such as professor research or a company internship counts as this. You are normally offered enough hours here such that you can work during the summers and during the school year AS LONG AS the job is related to your major AND you are still enrolled in the school. 2) OPT (optional practical training) - Basically you have 1 year of this to work at your new job and get sponsorship for a H1-B visa wherein you can start from there to get your greencard. Or you can use the 1 year to find a job that will sponsor your H1-B visa, which naturally means that ideally you want to have a job already that will sponsor you the H1-B visa and this 1 year is just a safety option and won't be used. 3) On-campus employment - this is normally limited to ~20 hours/week during the school year or ~40 hours/week for breaks. It differs by school so check with your international student office. Right now I'm focusing on on-campus employment and CPT. OPT will not be useful for me until after I graduate. I imagine it would be the same for you. Don't take all this as concrete information though. Most importantly, check everything with your international student office. I found all this information from their website and doing a bit of research online with the H1-B visa.