Guide to OPT - Optional Practical Training for F1 Students

What is OPT?

OPT is an Optional Practical Training Program for F-1 students, which permits international students to work temporally in the USA in a field directly related to the F1 student's major area of study. The majority of the international students in the USA are on the F1 visa are studying in graduate or undergraduate schools.

Difference between OPT and CPT :

International students with an F1 visa need to apply for OPT or CPT to gain permission to work in the USA. The major difference between the two is that OPT can be completed before as well as after graduation, but CPT has to be completed before graduation permits students to have paid or unpaid internships or volunteer at certain events related to their major areas of study. While students with OPT can work in their area of expertise for around 12 months, starting from the date of the OPT visa.

What Work Privileges are Available on OPT?

There are two types of OPT visas you should know about before you apply for an OPT to make the most out of your study in the USA. They are pre-completion OPT and Post-completion OPT. Both the OPTs come with various privileges for F1 visa holders making their stay in the USA beneficial for their career.

1.Pre-completion OPT:

Pre-completion OPT allows you to work in the USA even while you are still pursuing your degree to gain professional expertise in your area of study. With a pre-completion OPT, you can work part-time for 20 hours a week during the session and full-time for 40 hours a week during a session break.

2. Post-Completion OPT:

Once you are about to complete your degree in the USA or have completed, you can apply for post-completion OPT. Post-completion OPT allows you to work in the USA for full-time that is 40 hours a week directly in the major area of your studies. During post-completion OPT, you are eligible to work for multiple employers, but they all should be related to the major area of your study.

The only thing to remember while applying for pre-completion OPT is that if you apply for pre-completion OPT, USCIS will deduct that amount of time from your Post-completion OPT. For example, if you participate in five months of pre-completion OPT than, you are eligible for only seven months of post-completion OPT.

What's Next? Life After OPT

After you complete your OPT work period as you are already on an F1 visa, you can either apply for visa change to H1B, or if you belong to the STEM field, you can apply for a STEM OPT extension to keep working in the USA.

You can even apply for post-graduation if you wish to study further.

What type of visa am I on during OPT?

During OPT or while applying for OPT, you are probably on an F1 visa. F1 visas allow international students to enter the USA as a full-time student at an accredited university, college, academic high school, seminary, conservatory, elementary school, or other educational institution or in a language training program.

Who provides jobs for OPT students?

Getting OPT Job in the USA could be a bit difficult task for international students. And so it is always important that you begin your job search the right way. You can choose a job portal to get hired before your visa expires.

OPTnation is a job portal that will help you get a good job according to your designation and requirements. The services are quite affordable, and so you won't end up spending a lot of money on your job search. Choosing a job portal for getting a job always helps you get a job faster, and according to your qualifications and criteria. We at OPTnation have amazing employers waiting to hire candidates, and we help you connect with them. So we make OPT job search easier and affordable.

I hope now you know all about OPT and how to get OPT jobs in USA.

Greetings, I’m John. I’m an Content Creator living in USA. I am a fan of Content related to OPT resume, F1 Visas and other international students helping topics. I’m also interested in helping the international students to shape their future.