F-1 STUDENT VISA: PRACTICAL TRAINING
Recent graduates from U.S. colleges and universities in the F-1 student visa status
may request authorization for employment to begin after they graduate. Such employment
is called Practical Training.
- The individual initiates the request for practical training through the U.S. school
from which they will graduate prior to graduation.
- It can take up to three months for the authorization to be processed by Immigration.
- The individual can be granted up to 12 months of employment permission.
- F-1 practical training allows employment with any employer so long as the job is
directly related to the area of the individual’s degree.
- There is no obligation for the individual to return to their home country upon completion
of their period of practical training.
- UCSB students in the F-1 student visa status cannot be employed at UCSB after they
graduate unless they receive authorization for practical training prior to graduating.
F-1 Dependents
The F-1 student’s dependents are eligible for the F-2 visa status.
- An F-2 visa dependent is not allowed to work.
- If the F-2 dependent wishes to study, they will need to change their immigration
status from F-2 dependent to F-1 student status before they can enroll at an institution.