This article is an update to a previously published blog post titled “For Advisors: OPT and Navigating the Student Transition.” Read the original post here.
Processing issues surrounding Optional Practical Training (OPT) persist in the wake of COVID-19 and the end of the last U.S. presidential administration. In response, schools and their international student advisors are working at a frenetic pace to deliver sound advice and help students make the transition from school to the workplace as smooth as possible.
Here are three items that help frame a meaningful OPT gap conversation with your students:
In response to the pandemic, international student admissions have declined precipitously. According to the Institute of International Education® (IIE), total enrollment for international students, both in-person and online, decreased by 16 percent in Fall 2020. New international student enrollment was hit even harder with a 43 percent decrease. The silver lining comes in the form of deferrals. Ninety percent of surveyed institutions reported international student deferrals for Fall 2020, accounting for nearly 40,000 students who will hopefully come to study in the U.S. at a later date. With these decreases in admissions, a significant decline in OPT is likely also on the horizon.
However, a natural return to normal enrollment alone may not be enough to bring students back amidst a climate that has been hostile for the past four years. One proactive improvement international offices can make is paying attention to what international students find important. As a highly popular feature of their F-1 visa status, international students understand how a post-completion EAD can help establish their professional careers in the U.S.—or at least gain on-the-job experience before heading home. As of this writing, OPT application numbers are still strong, and requests are continuing to be reviewed, albeit very slowly. COVID-19 restrictions, a significant increase in certain benefit requests, and the utter inundation of the U.S. postal service are causing major delays at USCIS lockboxes. Despite lawsuits challenging these errors, These delays are causing the loss of jobs and job offers and threatening the immigration status for many international students. International students should be advised of these delays entering their final semester so they can prepare for the application costs and documents required to file their application and not wait until final filing deadlines so as to avoid an unfortunate scenario like Berkeley faced.
Lockbox 지연으로 인해 미국 시민권 및 이민 서비스(USCIS)는 다음과 같은 조치를 취했습니다. 발급 유연성 유연성을 발표했습니다. 구체적으로
변경을 전달하면 학생들이 I-765 신청서를 적시에 제출하여 자신의 역할과 책임을 이해하고 졸업일과 취업 시작 사이의 격차 기간을 줄이는 데 도움이 됩니다.
Besides advising on the filing and refiling of OPT applications, it’s important for advisors to remind students of the potential intermission between student and employee that may leave graduated international students without income and health insurance.
When an international student graduates, their eligibility for F-1 health insurance may run out depending on the policy in place at their school. And even if a student files their OPT application on the first possible date with a start date for the Monday following graduation, receives the EAD in time, has a job offer in hand for that following Monday, and their new company offers great health insurance, they may still be without health insurance if their new company has a mandatory waiting period. In the employer world, it is normal for new hires to wait a period of 30 to 90 days after their start date – in such time they are not eligible for the company’s group health insurance coverage. This is why OPT health insurance is vital to your students’ transition plans. OPT health insurance fills this gap, meaning your students are still protected, even if their filing gets delayed at a lockbox. This avoids the very real and painful conversation of a former student begging to “get back on” your health insurance coverage likely due to an emergency already incurred!
유학생이 졸업과 새로운 직장으로 전환하는 데는 많은 도움이 필요합니다. Lewerglobal은 유학생의 상황에 맞게 특별히 설계된 고품질 건강 보험을 제공하여 이러한 전환을 지원합니다. 자세한 내용은 이 링크에서 OPT 건강 보험 또는 문의하기 이메일 또는 실시간 채팅으로 문의하세요.
이 웹 사이트에 제공된 정보는 법률 자문을 구성하지 않으며 의도되지 않습니다. 이 사이트에서 사용할 수 있는 모든 정보, 콘텐츠 및 자료는 일반적인 정보 제공 목적으로만 사용됩니다. 이 웹 사이트의 정보는 최신 법률 또는 기타 정보를 구성하지 않을 수 있습니다. 이 웹 사이트에는 다른 타사 웹 사이트에 대한 링크가 포함되어 있습니다. 이러한 링크는 독자의 편의를 위한 것입니다. Lewer 회사는 제3자 사이트의 내용을 추천하거나 보증하지 않습니다. 이 웹 사이트의 독자는 특정 법적 문제에 대한 조언을 얻기 위해 변호사에게 문의해야합니다. 어떤 독자도 먼저 관련 관할권의 변호인으로부터 법률 자문을 구하지 않고 이 사이트의 정보를 근거로 행동하거나 행동을 삼가해서는 안 됩니다. 본 웹사이트 또는 사이트에 포함된 링크 나 리소스를 사용하고 액세스하는 것은 독자와 웹 사이트 작성자, 기여자 또는 위원회 구성원 및 해당 직원 간의 변호사- 고객 관계를 만들지 않습니다.