Work and Study in New York

[kathrynalex 0]

Hi All

Hope everyone's good today.

I'm a Malaysian citizen and currently working in the UK. My visa ends in May and I've decided to not apply for an extension, instead I'm thinking of heading to the US to further my studies and work at the same time. I've researched a few sites about Work/Study programmes but it seems these are only for affiliated colleges.

I'm not too sure if there actually is such a visa that would permit me to do this? I've basically been reading several websites and they all more or less says differently to each other.

I think it's because I'm a bit slow up there and don't really get it

So any would be much appreciated!

[Little_My 464]

You will have to apply to a study program that SEVP certified (list available on www.ice.gov), and you have to be accepted as a student before you can begin the visa application process. The first part would be to research the universities here to find out where you'd like to study, what you'd like to study, and figure out how you'd fund it. If you apply and are approved, as a part of the visa process you will have to show that you are able to fund your studies and life here. When I applied to a university in NYC, the estimate of annual expenses given by the school, including living expenses, tuition, transportation, books, etc. was around $45,000 a year. You will have to provide proof of funds or continuous income to show you can cover those costs, and proof that you are not planning to immigrate but will return to your home country after your studies in the US.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Little_My

[kathrynalex 0]

You will have to apply to a study program that SEVP certified (list available on www.ice.gov), and you have to be accepted as a student before you can begin the visa application process. The first part would be to research the universities here to find out where you'd like to study, what you'd like to study, and figure out how you'd fund it. If you apply and are approved, as a part of the visa process you will have to show that you are able to fund your studies and life here. When I applied to a university in NYC, the estimate of annual expenses given by the school, including living expenses, tuition, transportation, books, etc. was around $45,000 a year. You will have to provide proof of funds or continuous income to show you can cover those costs, and proof that you are not planning to immigrate but will return to your home country after your studies in the US.

Thanks for getting back to me! Still feel rather silly about the last post

Check through the list and the Uni I'm interested in is SEVP Certified (first step completed!), now 1,239 more to go!

Which visa will this be under? And if I'm applying to a Part time course, am I allowed to work? Limited Hours p/w?

Thanking you x

[Little_My 464]

No, you cannot work with a student visas. Non-immigrant visas are always issued for a particular purpose - tourism, business, work, studies, etc. A student visa is for studying. You are allowed to work with certain conditions with a J1 or F1 visa, but you have to have authorization for that, and usually you can work only on campus and max. 20 hours a week during semesters (full time work is allowed on school breaks - but still on campus).

Student visas are only issued for full-time studies. You can drop below full-time with certain conditions for one semester - usually your last semester - during your studies, but again you will need authorization for this.

Most students get the F1 visa. The J1 visa is for students who get a large part of their fundign from other than a personal source, for example the university or your home government. Both J1 and F1 visas allow you to stay here after you have completed your studies to work in the field you studied - for J1s, it's called Academic Training and for F1 Optional Practical Training (OPT). For F1s, the OPT is for one year max, and for J1s I believe it can be more (18 months maybe, not sure).

[kathrynalex 0]

Ahhh.. So meaning both F1 and J1 visas do not allow you to work at anytime besides conditions you have previously stated?

Basically I was researching a couple of months ago on working abroad and studying and found this work and study programme online (http://www.htir.com/) which got me interested.

So after the student visa, we're given an extra year after our studies to look for a job? Would you advise on applying to a full time course and leave the job hunting after?

[Little_My 464]

CPT, or Curricular Practical Training, is available to all F1 students. It's a work/internship/training program that has been approved and accepted by the study program as an integral part of that study program's curriculim. I am not familiar with this particular HTIR program you posted, but it seems to me that this organization basically works with schools and universities that have made CPT a mandatory part of their curriculum, meaning that all students MUST do an internship or a work training period as part of their master's degree. Most universities don't require this, but because these particular schools that this organization partners with do, it means students are more likely to find a paid internship as the schools have established partnerships with employers. Also, because these universities require students to participate in CPT programs, this makes an exeption to the general rule of an F1 student having to first study for a full year before being eigible to participate on a CPT program.

You will still be an F1 student, and while working, i.e. participating in CPT, you must be completing courses towards a degree. The CPT placement has to be related to your field of studies.

You are not given an extra year to look for a job in the US after your studies - OPT or academic training allow you to extend your I-20 (a form you are given when a university accepts you as an international student) and therefore extend your authorized stay in the US for 12 months to work in the particular field you graduated from. You can only stay for one year, so if it takes you, for example, 2 months to find employment after getting your OPT approval, you will have 10 months left to work. You have to find a job within 90 days from when your OPT was approved, or you'll have to leave the US. While on OPT or academic training, you are still an F1 or a J1 - you do not get a "work visa", OPT and academic training are still under a student visa status.

Both the Department of State and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement websites have information on student visas you should definitely read. Also look into the particular school you are interested in and contact their international student services office to ask for more information on that particular school. If you plan to come here to start studies next fall, you should look into application requirements now - for many master's programs, the application period is currently opened and will end usually in December / January for fall admission.

[kathrynalex 0]

Hi Little_My

One final question, so basically we have 90 Days from OPT approval to look for a job?

Thanks for getting back to me and I really appreciate your time on this - everything is much clearer now.

I'm going to focus on applying to the University for now and take it from there, will keep you posted and bug you with more questions!

x

[Little_My 464]

Students who are on OPT cannot be unemployed for more than 90 days - on aggregate, during the whole OPT period. In other words, 1) you have to find an OPT placement within 90 days from the date on your EAD card, and 2) If you use 60 days to find an OPT placement, and you were to leave that job for whatever reason before your OPT period ends, you have to find a new job within 30 days so that you won't accumulate more than 90 days of unemployment.