What Exactly Is OPT And It’s Benefits for Students and Employers?

The USA is the melting pot of people from different countries around the world. Most people want to study and work in this country because of the excellent education and the best job salaries and perks. However, American authorities are quite wary of letting anyone into their main stream market of jobs. This is why they have set up the OPT platform which tests the students who have an F1 visa and want to get work experience. Foreign students in the USA can use the OPT (optional practical training) CPT (curricular Practical training) and also the students who are looking for H1B visa. So first of all we need to understand what OPT exactly is.

What is OPT?

For F-1 student visa holders in the USA, OPT (Optional Practical Training) is a temporary work permit that allows them to work in their field of study for a maximum of 12 months after graduation. This gives overseas students the chance to get real-world experience and possibly advance their field. Students in STEM professions are eligible for a 24-month extension, and they can apply for OPT before or after finishing their studies.

Applying for OPT Job in USA can be a little tough because of the following key criteria:

·         Duration – essentially OPT job permit allows students 24 years of work in study related field

·         Eligibility – students should have completed a full time course study for one academic year at least to apply for OPT jobs

·         Maintain OPT status – in order to maintain the OPT status, the students have to work for a fixed number of hours in a week in their field of study

Types of OPT

Entry level OPT jobs are very beneficial for the students and employers both.

This is the reason that more and more facilities are provided to them by the government of USA. They accept students either during their academic sojourn or immediately afterwards. The OPT should be related to the field of study as your major and there are two types of OPT.

Pre-completion - Following a full academic year of lawful enrolment at a college, university, conservatory, or seminary that has been approved by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) to enrol F-1 students, you may apply to take part in pre-completion OPT. You can meet the "one full academic year" criterion even if you held another non-immigrant status during that time; you are not required to have held F-1 status for the whole school year.

You may work 20 hours or less per week during the school year if you are permitted to take part in pre-completion OPT. During the time off from school, you might work full-time.

Post completion - After finishing your studies, you can apply to take part in post-completion OPT. You must work either full-time or part-time (at least 20 hours per week) if you are eligible for post-completion OPT.

The total amount of full-time OPT that is still available would be lowered by six months, or 50% of the previously approved year at the same educational level, if you have already obtained a year of part-time (20 hours per week) pre-completion OPT. You would only be eligible for the remaining six months of full-time OPT job authorization in this case.

The total amount of full-time optional practical training that is still available would be lowered by one year, or 100% of the previously approved year at the same educational level, if you have already completed one year of full-time (40 hours per week) pre-completion OPT. You would not be eligible for any post-completion OPT jobs for international students, in this case.

You can request for a 24-month extension of your post-completion OPT employment authorization if you have a degree in one of the following STEM fields:

Do you work for an employer who is enrolled in and using E-Verify? Did you get a first grant of post-completion OPT employment authorization based on your STEM degree? Are you an F-1 student with a STEM degree listed on the STEM Designated Degree Program List (PDF)?

Please visit our Optional Practical Training Extension for STEM Students (STEM OPT) page for additional details if you would want to apply for a STEM OPT extension.

 

Let us see how to find jobs for OPT students in USA

Ask your academic institution's designated school official (DSO) to suggest the OPT. By approving your Form I-20, Certification of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status, and entering the necessary information in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), your DSO will make the recommendation.

As stated in the form instructions, correctly submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, to USCIS together with the necessary payment and supporting paperwork.

In the modern world with most advanced technology and easy availability of the internet, OPT job search in USA becomes comparatively easy. To add to this there a large number of OPT jobs portals, among which OPTnation is the best for Indian students.

 

OPTnation benefits for employers and students

·         This portal has access to all the companies providing jobs for international students.

·         Most employers offering OPT employment in the US use OPTnation and similar platforms to look for international students.

·         So students don’t have to spend time in searching through offline lists of prospective employers earlier offered by some organisations.

·         They don’t have to run around in places like job fairs, etc. where there is quite a rush of students and the employers have very little time to assess each one

·         The students get work experience in the field of their studies and hence help them get a better shot at finding a permanent job in this country.

·         Not only America, once the students complete their OPT training and jobs find it easy to get jobs anywhere in the world.

·         This is because the training provided by OPT employers is quite tough and it trains the students in the best possible work scenarios.

·         The students applying do not need to pay any fees, because the fees is charged to the employer.

On the other hand employers get the benefit of getting work done at a very reasonable salary given to the students. International students add variety to the workplace culture and other employees get to expand their thinking horizons, by interacting with them.

STEM OPT extension

If you have earned a degree in certain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, you may apply for a 24-month extension of your post-completion OPT employment authorization if you:

·         Are an F-1 student who received a STEM degree included on the STEM Designated Degree Program List (PDF);

·         Are employed by an employer who is enrolled in and is using E-Verify; and

·         Received an initial grant of post-completion OPT employment authorization based on your STEM degree.

You can conduct some research on the internet or simply study the OPTnation website for clearing the doubts regarding how to find OPT jobs in USA

OPT opportunities are not just part time jobs, instead they open up the scope of finding full time employment in the field of your studies. It becomes easier to get H1B visa if you have an OPT experience and employers also prefer to rehire their OPT employees in full time positions, which can get them OPT jobs in America. So simply log on to OPT nation portal whether you are an employee or student and enjoy the benefits.