<p>I should be able to figure this out, but, I can’t. I want to hire a young lady part time for the summer, because she has specific skills and there are some things she can do that are hard to find, and because she’s a good “fit”. She won’t earn more than, say, $4,000 or so for the summer, then perhaps work no more than 10 hours per week until she graduates in December. At that point, she’ll return to Australia, and we’ll make a decision together if she wishes to continue with us post-graduation, from Australia, which is a priority strategy for me. </p>
<p>She has a student visa, but not a work visa, and she’s allowed to have jobs on campus, but not outside of campus. She hasn’t applied for a work visa because of the cost, the 60-day wait, and - well, bottom line, she just didn’t do it. </p>
<p>I’ve read everything about the various work visas and even if I paid the application fee, I don’t see where she would qualify under any of the guidelines. Even if we submitted an application today it seems like she might get turned down, either because of quotas or because she doesn’t fit the requirements precisely. She doesn’t even really seem to qualify under the policies of the new E-3 visa specific to Australians.</p>
<p>Am I overlooking something? Isn’t there some legal way I can hire this person to work part-time for the summer, and through first semester? She said she has a social security number, but has no idea what to do with it. I have no idea what she is supposed to do with it, either…</p>
<p>She should contact her international office. I believe that foreign students are allowed to work during summer (I was, but that was a long time ago).</p>
<p>I’m guessing she means the international student office on her college campus – who will certainly know all the ins and outs of summer employment for individuals with student visas.</p>
<p>What about utilizing her services as an “independent contractor” as opposed to an “employee”?</p>
<p>cnp is correct. All colleges have an international office which handles the issues facing both students and faculty. This includes issues paperwork for them to secure visas as well as housing when colleges close down during the school year, host families, etc…</p>
<p>When I was in college, students came on an F-1 or J-1 visa. The difference between the two types of visas was about whether a student had to return home for a couple of years before being allowed to return to the US after completing his/her studies. With either visa, however, students were allowed to work during summer, it not being assumed that they would be returning to their home country during that time. I had an F-1 visa and worked during the summer. I don’t recall my employers having to do anything special.
As I said, it’s a long time ago, but I doubt things have changed that much for students.</p>
<p>Oh, o.k. I’ll tell her to go to that tomorrow or as soon as she can next week. There must be some support system in place for students who want to stay in country during the summer, and work. </p>
<p>As an alternative, can I legally hire her as an independent contractor, if she has no work visa? And if so, do I simply report her wages to the IRS just as if she were a traditional employee?</p>
<p>Marite, you’re right, it cannot be that difficult. What threw me was when she said it’s a 60 day wait for decision plus a $180 fee to apply for the work visa. I simply somehow assumed that somehow foreign students who come here would be allowed to have part-time jobs with very little red tape required, how else are they supposed to get by, unless their families can support them every step of the way, or otherwise they all have on-campus jobs…</p>
<p>I am familiar with the process. Assuming this student is currently on F-1 visa, she has a total of 12 month of “optional practical training (OPT)” that can be used prior or/and after graduation. As long as she has been in US for 9 months, the typical procedures for most universities are:
Complete the paperwork with the campus International Student Office (ISO)
ISO will issue a new I-20 that endorses the internship (with employment start and end dates)
The student will file the I-765 form to USCIS (with an application fee ~ $185)
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! The student <em>must</em> wait until the EAD (Employement Authorization Document) is received before begin employment. Depending on local USCIS office, the processing time goes up to 90 days. USCIS website should have the average stat. </p>
<p>In this case, I afraid the possibility of “legal employment” for this student starting next month is slim at best. You will have to explore “alternative work arrangements” which I am not comfortable disclosuring here. Any paper trace that indicates the student is illegally employed (without EAD) will automatically cancel her student visa and subject her to deportation.</p>
<p>She may work for you part time during Fall as long as ISO approves (and the same EAD process applies.) If she uses 2 months of her 12-month OPT (prior to graduation), she may use the remaining 10 months working full time in US post graduation.</p>
<p>Dallas, thanks, I suspect you’re right, what you wrote sounds very close to what she described to me. If so, that’s very disappointing. I cannot consider alternative arrangements (wish I could), do everything totally above board, plus I wouldn’t put her at risk, but, it’s really very disappointing for both sides if that’s the bottom line. She needs the money and wants to work, and she has skills that I need. I even read the detail on something called a “training visa” but to qualify, it seems the candidate has to already have a college degree, and she won’t have hers until December, and, it’s very clear that the focus has to be training and not work for pay or at least very little work for pay. </p>
<p>So what do international college students do for money? The way the process appears to work as outlined in your post (which is basically consistent with what she told me), the student would have to have the summer job lined up 90 days in advance, and even then there is no guarantee of authorization, so, how in the world do they manage to find and keep summer jobs? Most employers would decide this is too complicated and just hire U.S. citizens…what’s the problem, is the risk that foreign students will overstay their visas and keep working?</p>
<p>Very disappointing…I’ll still have her check with the international office at school but it sounds rather hopeless…</p>
<p>OP, you as the employer shouldn’t have to do anything. All the paperworks are to be completed between the student and ISO. Just be sure when the student shows up at work, she has a valid EAD card and complete all the typical new hire paperwork (W-9 etc). </p>
<p>If I recall this correctly, intl students on EAD are subject to the same federal/state taxes withholding but are exempted from FICA taxes.</p>
<p>latetoschool, intl students will usually file for EAD four months ago regardless. If they don’t get an offer for summer internship, they just basically waste those three months (from their 12-month allowance) and the application fee. In this case, I think the student should have known this better if she is actively looking for a summer job.</p>
<p>As I said in the previous post, if the student gets the paperwork filed in time and correctly, the OPT process should be as painless as possible for most US employers (with the exception of FICA taxes).</p>
<p>You’re right - in light of the consideration that she should have known this months ago (being a senior now), I don’t feel so bad now about having to tell her this isn’t going to work. Oh, well…thanks for at least saving me from having to do more reading and researching requirements, it was giving me a headache… I’ll just have to find another candidate.</p>
<p>Hey, can she do any sort of work study job so it would could as being through the school? My D’s uni’s offer the opportunity to use work study for non-campus jobs, I am not usre what kind of financial aid she has from OZ, but perhaps the works study office could find a way to remian within the letter of the law??</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I am NOT an attorney but have picked up a few lessons from dealing with interns.</p>
<p>somemon, the issue as I understand is not related to financial aid. The student visa specifically prohibits any off-campus employment unless being approved by the immigrant office. I guess that’s why they need the EAD (it’s a card) in order to be legally employed.</p>
<p>I remembered one case where an intern couldn’t get the work permit (not sure if it was EAD). We ended up having the said student work remotely in our regional office (outside US).</p>
<p>LTS: Do you have the ability to employ her whilst she is back home? My D did a summer abroad and could not work there, but earned money doing computer work for her campus employer back home, from afar. Any creative way to address this from the other side?</p>
<p>somemon, good thinking! That’s one of the “alternative arrangements” that I was hesitate to suggest as it involves some legal grey area. OP, in the aforementioned case, the student was a bona fide intern, of the regional office (also a legally separated entity), who collaborated on distance with the US-based team. Hope this makes sense to you.</p>
<p>I don’t want to encourage anything illegal, but sometimes there are creative yet legitimate ways to circumvent what is essentially a timing issue. People at universities are not always the first to think outside the box, but might be willing to find away to make a fit, if given the creative ideas.</p>
<p>I have been amazed at the responsiveness at two big publics when my D had a serious problem which needed addressing- so many “rules” (per the website/handbook) were not hard and fast, and they were able to adjust for extenuating circumstances.</p>
<p>I would not be afraid to ask for special consideration, but you would need to be brainstorming and presenting them with ideas, then they (university employees) would know which ones could fit into their system. If, though, she should have done a simple permit app 6 weeks ago and chose not to, they mat not be interested in going above & beyond!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the suggestions, I appreciate it. She is a very nice young lady and would be an excellent fit. I did ask her this morning to go to the international office and talk to them, so, we will see. The thing is, from a business perspective, as well as from a personal preference perspective, I need/like to keep things 100% straight and narrow - no grey allowed. We did consider last night briefly the idea of her working “from” Australia, which is the literal long range plan anyway. But if it still requires “being creative”, that is not something I will do. And, in order for her to be effective and productive from such a great distance, she needs time working with us while she’s here. </p>
<p>Maybe the college will have some idea. The thing is though, she’s a senior, and as such my expectation is that she should by now be responsible enough to have addressed this on her own, before seeking employment or even before making summer plans. If she were for example just completing freshman year I would be VERY sympathetic and would be willing to invest more of my own time into helping her through this - well - actually, I take that back, I wouldn’t be hiring a freshman, but, anyway, I do expect someone who is a senior to be taking responsibility and addressing these matters…</p>
<p>If my daughter were in this situation my reaction would be something like “what’s wrong with you - you’re an adult, I expect you to conduct your business matters like an adult…” sounds a bit harsh, but, that’s my position, at some point young people have to take responsibility. </p>
<p>I do also think the law is a bit goofy though, now that I have some understanding of it. Not only does it seem like it places international students in a challenging position but also it places at a disadvantage those of us who wish to employ them from benefiting from their skills, and the richness of their contributions into our business cultures - there is so much we could be learning and gaining in understanding from having them interacting with our employees who are U.S. citizens.</p>
<p>Agree, university rules (including corporations’) aren’t hard and fast. But we are dealing with US Immigrant Law which is a complicated, unforgiving beast. But I will quick to admit the tax law is the worst offender! :)</p>
<p>Case in point. I knew a friend’s parent (non-US citizen who doesn’t speak English) was denied at airport for what turned out to be a misfilled form. Even worse, the immigrant officer cancelled the parent’s visa and blacklisted the parent. Now the parent couldn’t obtain a US visa for 10 years! Sometime, I do wonder if we are addressing the immigration problems at the right places… here we are trying to figuring out how to legally employ an intl student while a few hundreds have sneaked through the border of the south of my state since the thread started…</p>
<p>I know, right? All she wants to do is work and earn her summer money; all I want to do is hire what seems like a very nice fit, a person who can be developed over time, and who would have the opportunity to grow and earn her way into a position of higher responsibility and return to her home country with a job in hand. </p>
<p>I am disappointed. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I’m speaking on this issue at a conference in October. I stupidly said “yes” without thinking and then started sort of wondering how to fill 30 minutes of podium time on a subject matter I know so little about, so, at least I am discovering that there will be an endless supply of talking points and angles to pick from…</p>
Any paper trace that indicates the student is illegally employed (without EAD) will automatically cancel her student visa and subject her to deportation.</p>