Working after graduation: The Path to OPT

OPT (Optional Practical Training) is what F-1 visa holders usually start full-time work on (not counting internships).  Every F-1 visa holder qualifies for a 12-month stint on the OPT.  However, if you're badass like this Little Alien and majored in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) field, then you qualify for a 17-month extension.  List of DHS-approved STEM majors can be found here:

http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/stem-list.pdf

You'll have to apply for the OPT through your school's International Office, which is awesome because then you don't have to worry about filling out the paperwork yourself (it's really just an I-765, but all USCIS forms are still scary) and getting something wrong.

Is this Little Alien the only one who always visualizes a stern-looking USCIS officer peering at whatever immigration forms I submit to USCIS, while working on immigration paperwork?

The processing time to get your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is 90 days (excluding transit time in the mail), which seems very long for background checks but is really due to the backlogs at USCIS.  While it appears that you should therefore submit your EAD application as early as possible to start working ASAP after graduation, there is a catch: you can't apply for your EAD more than 90 days before your graduation date.  As such, this Little Alien doesn't recommend that you tell your prospective employer that you can start working straight out of college, and to give it a 1- or 2-week buffer.  Why?  Here's my story.

This (broke) Little Alien wanted to start her job straight out of college to start making money right away, so my schedule could not tolerate any kind of delay on USCIS's part.  I submitted my I-765 through my school's International Office 93 days before my graduation date so that my application would reach USCIS about 90 days prior to graduation.  One day, I woke up realizing that I was about 20 days out from Graduation, and my case status on USCIS's tracker was still showing as "Initial Review".

I was already working part-time then under F-1 CPT (which I will cover in another post), and my poor Manager had to hear me complain for 1 hour on a Tuesday morning, about how I was so frustrated with USCIS processing times.  And yes, the entire time I was really terrified that my employer Company X would ding me if I couldn't turn up to work because USCIS effectively put me on forced vacation by not issuing my EAD on time.

And no, you can't legally turn up for  full-time work after your graduation date unless you have the EAD in hand.  I spent the next 20 days chewing off the nails on my fingers.

Thankfully my EAD came in the mail 1 day before my graduation.  ONE DAY.

So here you go fellow Aliens, let this be the reason why you just don't try to work literally straight out of school.  Let USCIS be your excuse for slacking off after graduation :)

That's all for today, my fellow Aliens!

How the alien's journey began

My immigration journey started out as a non-immigration journey in Sept 2009.  More specifically, I started out on a non-immigrant F-1 student visa, turned up at Singapore Changi Airport, and jetted off to the Land of Opportunity to pursue a Bachelor's degree.

Getting an F-1 student visa is as easy as it gets, especially since college apps are mostly online these days.  Write a college essay, answer a bunch of multiple choice questions, submit your SAT scores.  And then wait for a college to accept you.

Once you accept an admission offer, the International Office (if decent like mine) will give you a step-by-step guide on what paperwork to submit.  There are 3 things you need to prove to get the visa:

1. You have the money to pay your tuition (bank letter stating a balance will suffice).
2. You have no intent to immigrate to the US (remember, this is a non-immigrant visa).
3. You have strong ties to your country of origin (family, friends, permanent address).

There was an interview with a Consulate Officer at the US Embassy in Singapore, but really we ended up chatting because my documents were all in order.  And the Officer took away my passport at the end.

When  my passport came back, there was a shiny student visa in it, with a very grumpy-looking, black-and-white photo of me on it.  No, I don't like taking passport photos.

Fast forward 3 months and I'm trying to use this student visa to enter the US through Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).  The CBP Officer is a stern-looking dude, clipped moustache and all.  The first thing he said threw me off-guard, "Can I see your I-20 please."

My college's International Office did say that the I-20 was going to be very important, my legal presence in the US would depend on it, yada-yada, but as naive as I was I didn't think I needed it presented to a CBP Officer to enter the US.

So I kept my I-20 in a very safe place.  In a folder, and in the same luggage pouch as a stack of clothes hangers to throw people off about the folder containing important documents.

It was the epitome of bad situations thrown into the same pot: I just got off a 20-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean, I had only slept 3h in the last 48h, and I was removing a stack of clothes hangers while trying to gain admission into the US.  Being LAX, there was also a long line of people waiting to be inspected by the CBP Officer.

Mr. Stern CBP Officer takes the I-20, then fires a string of questions to make sure that I'm me.  In my flustered state I get my age wrong, then correct myself very quickly, he eyes me suspiciously, asks a few more questions, is satisfied that I'm not an impostor, and lets me go.

And this was how this Little Alien started out in the Land of Opportunity.

That's all for today, my fellow Aliens!