How does an international student get hired in the U.S.?

International students bring tangible global experiences and diverse backgrounds working in a range of functions, from software development to banking, and more. The hiring process is much more complex for international students than domestic students in the United States and this document serves to provide a brief overview.

• Hiring for graduate student internships
  • International students at Iowa are typically on an F-1 student visa. This allows them to take on summer employment with hardly any paperwork on the employer’s part. The internship is through what is called Curricular Practical Training (CPT). With CPT, the University of Iowa issues the work authorization.
• Hiring for full-time positions
  • Iowa's international specialized master's graduates can work in the United States longer because both of our specialized master's programs are STEM-designated. This allows international students to work under Optional Practical Training (OPT) for 36 months before employer sponsorship is required.
  • At the end of the OPT period, the employee will need their employer to sponsor a visa to continue to work in the United States. The most common type of work visa in these situations is an H-1B visa.

The most important things to remember about the H1-B program are the annual cap and the application timeline. The U.S. government allows a finite number of H1-B visas every year and in recent years they have been reaching that quota on the day the application opens.