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Employment options for international students are limited but available. F-1 and J-1 international students are eligible to work on and off-campus with certain restrictions. International students cannot work off-campus without prior authorization from their immigration advisor. Please follow all rules and guidelines included with your visa status/authorizations for employment.
Authorized Employment
If you are interested in obtaining authorized employment please see the following helpful links:
On Campus Employment
Off-Campus Employment and Eligibility
Illegal or Unauthorized Employment
Strict rules regulate an F-1 student’s place of employment, hours per week, and in some cases, type of employment. Simply committing an "employment violation" automatically throws you out of lawful F-1 status. Once you are out of status, you will need to file an application for reinstatement to get back into proper F-1 status—or else face possibly accruing unlawful presence in the United States.
What Is Unauthorized Employment?
It can be tempting for students to try to earn extra cash by picking up additional work "under the table" or without authorization. Working for cash as a hotel housekeeper, a waitress, a cook, or a dishwasher are popular ways to do so but prohibited.
However, working without the required authorization can get you into trouble. As the immigration regulations state, "Any unauthorized employment by a nonimmigrant constitutes a failure to maintain status." (See 8 C.F.R. § 214.1(e)). If you are working off-campus without special permission from your DSO (for CPT) or USCIS (for OPT or severe economic hardship), then you are engaging in unauthorized or illegal employment. If you begin working without authorization and later receive authorization, the time you worked without permission is still considered illegal employment. Even working without permission on the campus of a university you previously attended is unauthorized employment.
Consequences of Engaging in Unauthorized Employment While in F-1 Student Status
Unauthorized employment puts you out of status. DO NOT WORK WITHOUT APPROVAL.
What happens if you disregard the rules described above? Accepting illegal employment can directly hinder your ability to legally live, work, or visit the United States now and in the future. A proven incident of unauthorized employment will make you ineligible for reinstatement to lawful F-1 status. Unauthorized employment can result in the need to exit and re-enter the U.S. on a new immigration record, may also jeopardize your eligibility for any future benefits from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), such as "practical training," "academic training" and/or adjustment to another non-immigrant status.
Another issue is that, as soon as you engage in illegal employment, you could be found to be unlawfully present in the United States. Accrual of more than 180 days of unlawful presence will subject you to a three-year bar on reentry (if you leave the U.S.) and one year of unlawful presence will subject you to a ten-year bar on reentering the United States. (See Consequences of Unlawful Presence in the U.S.—Three- and Ten-Year Time Bars.) If you find yourself in this situation, consult an immigration attorney immediately.
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