A common misconception amongst international students is thinking that they cannot qualify for paid internships. After all, we are not allowed to work off campus on an F1 visa, whether it be during term or not. As a result, unpaid internships take on a wholly greater importance, but this can be a huge financial burden for a college student to undertake. This past summer, as I was chasing down different internships, I was invited to an interview with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in New York City, an advocacy and research organization working closely with a worldwide network of journalists on issues of press freedom, freedom of speech and offering support to journalists under threat, being censored or silenced around the world. As a Political Science major, with a special interest in media and issues of freedom of speech, this seemed perfect for me. The one catch was that it was a paid position (and non-negotiable, in case I wanted to do it for credit).
Neither the organization nor I were too aware of the procedures necessary for international students to take a paid internship, and unfortunately, this is what ended up costing me the internship position. Following my interview, whereby the interviewer informally told me that I was a great fit for the position and would receive confirmation of the offer following approval from HR, I set about enquiring at the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) about how it would work for me to do a paid internship, whether it was even possible.
The process itself is actually quite simple, as I was told at ISSO. Once you have received the offer letter from the organization that you would be interning at, you can take it to Career Services at the LEEP Center where you will have to apply for internship for academic credit (and/or paid). This step may require finding a faculty advisor. Once Career Services has processed the application and given approval, the ISSO will give you CPT permission. This takes the form of a new I-20. It is imperative that you do not start the internship until this process is complete as doing so otherwise is illegal. According to Trang Nguyen’17, the entire process took about two weeks to complete so allow yourself at least that long in advance to the start date of the internship.
However, while it is still quite simple for someone on an F1 visa to do paid internships, organizations and companies not accustomed to accommodating international students on CPT may be hesitant on doing so. At CPJ, the HR department was convinced that it was illegal for me to do the internship due to my visa, and told me I would need to be a permanent resident of the US to accept the internship. It took a lot of back and forth conversations to try and make them understand what CPT is and how it works. ISSO can be a vital tool for this, as they offered to contact CPJ on my behalf to send materials about CPT and the procedures to make it legal for me to accept a paid internship. It’s important for you to explain to the employer the process if they are not familiar with it. Know that an F1 visa does not mean that you cannot work at all, and make sure to explain that to the organization in detail.
Under CPT a student can work part time (20 hours a week) or full time (40 hours a week) during breaks. According to the Clark ISSO website however, “There is no limit on the time you may be authorized for CPT, but if you engage in 12 months or more of full-time CPT, you will lose eligibility for Optional Practical Training (OPT).”. This isn’t really something to worry about as it is unlikely one will do 12 months of full time CPT. For more information on CPT, you can visit this link.
