Read part one here
For how much time can you remain unemployed during your OPT?
As you can assume using your common sense, there is no specific regulation regarding the allowable unemployment during the pre-completion OPT period. Conversely, during your post-completion OPT period, you can be unemployed for 90 total days. The counting for this starts after USCIS approves your OPT application, and the start date listed on the EAD has been reached. For STEM OPT, you get 60 extra days, totaling 150 days of allowable unemployment during your combined post-completion OPT and STEM OPT periods. You can use the whole period to your advantage according to your discretion. And if you fail to be employed, exceeding the allowable limit, then you might face deportation from the USA.
When can you start your work?
After applying, you will have to wait for the Employment Authorization Document or EAD. So, you cannot work on or off campus right after you are done with your studies without EAD in your possession. The condition remains the same irrespective of if the USCIS case status indicates that your OPT application has been approved or not.
Can you change your Employer when you are under OPT status?
A student is allowed to change employers while on OPT or STEM OPT. However, while the STEM OPT application is processing, students cannot change jobs until they receive new STEM EAD.
H-1B
Now as we all know that the OPT cannot be renewed over time, to retain his valid status in the USA, one of the best options a student get in the USA is trying for the employment-based H-1B visa. H-1B visa/status is a tool available to the US employers to temporarily employ foreign nationals. Under the broad category of this visa comes three sub-categories. However, this article will only discuss the H-1B ‘specialty occupation’ category. This process of employing a non-immigrant worker in a specialty occupation can only be initiated by the US-based employer. So, once the student gets his OPT, he should seek an employer to file an H-1B petition for him.
The Philosophy of H-1B
The concept of this visa is to allow the US employers to recruit the most talented candidates for professional positions notwithstanding the fact that they are not US citizens. However, employers should only engage in this process if they feel that the business needs to hire a specific worker, and for that reason, it assumes that the process of H-1B is not a favour to the foreign workers. So, the entire process is employer-driven and is supposed to create employment for the professionals meeting up the condition of specialty occupation only.
Workers Eligible under H-1B Visa
Three types of individuals may have their petitions filed by their employer under the H-1B category. They are:
-
- Specialty Occupations.
- DOD research and development project workers.
- Fashion models of distinguished category.
Specialty Occupation
To meet up the requirements as to specialty occupation, several credentials must be met, including, a. The occupation; b. Job position and c. Qualification of the worker. Firstly, you shall have an employer-employee relationship with a US employer to qualify under this criterion. Secondly, the job must require:
-
- Theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge; and
- Attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its equivalent)
The position must meet one of the following criteria:
-
- Bachelor’s or higher degree equivalent is normally the minimum entry requirement for the position.
- The degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions among similar organizations or, in the alternative, the job is so complex or unique that it can be performed only by an individual with a degree.
- The degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions among similar organizations or, in the alternative, the job is so complex or unique that it can be performed only by an individual with a degree.
- The degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions among similar organizations or, in the alternative, the job is so complex or unique that it can be performed only by an individual with a degree.
- The position must be in a specialty education related to your field of study.
The workers must meet one of the following criteria:
-
- Hold a US bachelor’s degree or a foreign degree that is equivalent to US bachelor’s or higher degree required by the specialty occupation.
- Hold an unrestricted state license, registration, or certification that authorizes you to fully practice the specialty occupation and be immediately engaged in that specialty in the intended employment.
There may be H-1Bs based on other grounds as well when the worker does not have a bachelor’s or higher degree. But that is very rare and in that case, it must be shown that:
-
- The worker has education, specialized training, and/or progressively responsible experience that is equivalent to the completion of a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree in the specialty occupation, and has the recognition of expertise in the specialty through progressively responsible positions directly related to the specialty.
This point is applicable to apprenticeship industries. This usually involves positions where a bachelor’s degree in a specific field does not exist because training usually takes the form of a long-term, hands-on apprenticeship. Usually, this is common in the world of the arts. Examples may be given of musical instrument makers.
Equivalency
For the purpose of getting equivalency for workers who do not have formal education equaling a bachelor’s degree, the way to prove that he meets the specialty occupation requirements is to get a determination by the USCIS that the equivalent of the degree required by the specialty occupation has been acquired through a combination of education, specialized training, and/or work experience in areas related to the specialty and that the alien has achieved recognition of expertise in the specialty occupation as a result of such training and experience. For getting equivalency to a bachelor’s degree, it must be demonstrated in the petition the worker has three years of specialized training or work experience for each year of college-level training. For master’s equivalency, he must have a baccalaureate degree and at least five years of experience in the specialty afterwards.
There are several ways to get equivalency if the degree is a foreign degree. If the worker is accepted in US-based Master’s degree program then that fact will prove that his bachelor’s degree meets the criteria of specialty occupation. Another practical way is to get an evaluation of education by a reliable credentials evaluation service that specializes in evaluating foreign educational credentials. For example, WES. For professional degrees, evidence of certification from a nationally-recognized professional association or society for the specialty would suffice.
Read part three here
