While finishing a master’s degree at the Columbia Journalism School in 2017, international student Karen K. Ho was torn when determining her next step after graduation. Two possible options: a reporting job in Hong Kong and a New York-based fellowship with the Columbia Journalism Review.
“After consulting with lots of people, they were like, ‘You should take the CJR job,'” Ho says. And she did — she’s wrapping up her one-year fellowship later this month.
Ho, who hails from Canada, is able to hold this position because she obtained work authorization through the federal Optional Practical Training program. Under OPT, international students can work for 12 months in a U.S.-based job related to their field of study.
[Read: Foreign Grad Students Can Get On-Campus Jobs in U.S.]
“OPT is an opportunity to apply knowledge gained from a program of study in a practical environment,” says Jim Hicks, acting division chief of external operations for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, a division within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that collects information on international students in the U.S.
Many international students see value in having U.S. job experience on their resume. In a 2017 survey of international students and alumni by the nonprofit World Education Services, 73 percent of respondents indicated that the ability to gain U.S. work experience before returning home or going to another country was a very important factor in deciding to study in the U.S.
There are two types of OPT for students on an F-1 visa: pre-completion and post-completion. Pre-completion OPT allows international students to hold a job during their studies, permitting them to work part time while classes are in session and full time during breaks. However, experts say post-completion OPT, which allows students to work part time or full time after graduation, is the much more popular option.
International students who earn degrees in science, technology, engineering or math, or STEM, fields can apply for two additional years of work authorization.
The OPT program’s popularity has increased over the years, especially among students in STEM fields. The number of OPT work authorizations issued to STEM students grew 400 percent from 2008 to 2016, according to a report from the Pew Research Center. In 2016, roughly 172,000 STEM degree holders were approved for OPT.
In all, the U.S. government issued roughly 1.47 million OPT approvals to international students between 2004 and 2016, according to Pew.
There is some uncertainty about what changes the OPT program may see under the Trump administration, but Hicks says, “OPT has existed for a long time, and so the idea that it would completely go away would not be at the forefront of my concerns.”
Here’s what to know about OPT as it currently stands.
OPT Program Eligibility
International students with F-1 status who have completed at least one academic year of full-time studies can participate in optional practical training.
OPT is available for each higher level of study. So, for example, a student can apply for 12 months of work authorization for a bachelor’s degree and later another 12 months for a master’s degree.
Students in English language training programs are not eligible for OPT, Hicks says.
[Read: College vs. University in the U.S.: What’s the Difference?]
Application Process for OPT
Students must complete a multistep application process to obtain OPT work authorization. They need to get an OPT recommendation from their school and submit application materials, including a Form I-765: Application for Employment Authorization, to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
For a detailed explanation of the application process, students can visit the Department of Homeland Security’s Study in the States website.
International students don’t need to have a job offer in hand to apply for OPT, experts say. They can submit their OPT application first and then search for jobs as they wait for the government to review their materials.
There is a set window of time during which F-1 students may apply for post-completion OPT: no earlier than 90 days before their graduation, and no later than 60 days afterward, according to the USCIS website. Ho says she advises international students to apply as early as possible to avoid experiencing a postgraduation employment gap, as she did, while waiting for approval.
It’s important for international students to keep track of deadlines during this process, says James Simmons, an international student adviser at CUNY–Baruch College. Between 2004 and 2016, the government issued roughly 18,500 OPT approvals to Baruch students, according to the Pew report.
Students commonly miss one deadline in particular when applying for post-completion OPT, Simmons says. After obtaining a recommendation from their school, students must submit their application to USCIS within 30 days.
[Read: U.S. Higher Education Glossary.]
Ho says she missed this 30-day window and had to return to the International Students and Scholars Office at Columbia University to restart the process.
Applying for OPT isn’t cheap. Applicants must pay a $410 fee to file the employment authorization application with the government, according to the USCIS website. Colleges and universities may also charge a fee to students applying for OPT, who will also have to pay to mail their application.
Ho says the application process cost her about $660 in total. “It was a lot of money,” she says. “That could have been more than two flights back home to Toronto.”
STEM OPT Extension
International graduates who earn degrees in STEM fields and participate in post-completion OPT can apply for a 24-month extension. Doing so involves additional steps that are not part of the regular OPT application process.
For example, students applying for the STEM OPT extension must work with their employer to create a formal training plan — via the Form I-983 — as part of their application, Hicks says.
The Study in the States website offers a complete overview of the STEM OPT extension application process.
“Rather than hire someone who can only be here working for a year, you have someone who has the possibility to be working for three years,” Simmons says, “and that’s a much more attractive candidate.”
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What to Know About Optional Practical Training Work Authorization originally appeared on usnews.com
