Dear F-1 students,

Are you hoping to get work experience in the United States? Or, will you enroll in an off-campus clinical or practicum-based course as part of your academic program? These experiences require you to have special authorization before you may engage in off-campus employment or experiential learning. Remember, off-campus employment without having appropriate and prior authorization from ISSS or USCIS is not allowed and is a violation of your visa status.

Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is provided for training or internships that are required for your major academic program, or for a course that you are taking directly related to your major. It can only be done while you are an active student in your program.

Optional Practical Training (OPT) is for work experience that is directly related to your major, but not part of your academic program curriculum. OPT can be done before you graduate, or after you graduate.

STEM OPT Extension is an extension of post-completion OPT authorization for students who graduated from qualifying STEM degree programs, and who work for qualifying employers.

All F-1 students who will apply for OPT, STEM OPT Extension or CPT must have attended an ISSS workshop on the topic, before you submit your application for CPT or OPT or STEM OPT Extension to ISSS.  

Important Workshop Information:

• ISSS offers three different practical training workshops. Be sure to attend the workshop related to your situation:
  • Post-Completion OPT Workshop: for F-1 students who will soon graduate and apply for an OPT permit to work in the U.S. for up to 12 months after graduation, or while you are in the final stages of your thesis/dissertation. This workshop is intended for students in both STEM and non-STEM fields.
  • CPT and Pre-Completion OPT Workshop: for F-1 students who want to work or intern off-campus during your studies, or who have clinical placements or practicum courses off-campus as part of your other off-campus experiential learning at off-campus locations. CPT is required for both paid and unpaid experiences.
  • STEM OPT Extension workshop: for F-1 students who are already in their post-completion OPT period, and who are preparing to submit an application for STEM OPT Extension. This workshop is not intended for current F-1 students who have not yet started post-completion OPT.
• The workshop schedule for Spring 2021 semester is posted at events.uconn.edu and can be found here.
• No pre-registration is required; just join the Webex workshop through the posted link on the scheduled day/time (EST). We recommend that you schedule a calendar reminder for yourself to attend the chosen workshop.
• When you join the workshop, make sure that you sign in/login to Webex with your passport name or net ID, so that we can identify who you are. If your passport name or Net ID is not visible, we cannot give you credit for attending.
• You must attend the entire workshop to gain credit for attending that workshop.
• When you apply for OPT,  CPT or STEM OPT Extension, we will check to see if you have attended an ISSS workshop on the topic. If you have not, then we will ask you to attend a workshop before we will process your application.
• Practical training authorization is not available to students enrolled in UCAELI (ESL study). You must be enrolled in a degree program to be eligible.

If you want to learn more about CPT and OPT and STEM OPT Extension visit the ISSS webpage on employment for international students.

If you are on a J-1 visa enrolled in a student (not research) program, and you have interest to do practical training, please request an appointment with your ISSS Advisor to learn more about the Academic Training benefit for J-1 students.