Summer visas can cause job hurdles

Finding a summer job can be stressful for any student, but it has the potential to be even more trying for those hailing from outside the United States.

Some struggle with the complicated issue of obtaining a summer work visa, while some American employers have policies against hiring foreign nationals.

"Many are perfectly comfortable with it" though, said Senior Adviser to International Students Jim Fine. "Some seek out international students."

Kunal Bahl, a Wharton and Engineering junior from India who worked in the United States last summer and plans on doing so again, concurred, saying that he believes international students benefit from bringing a different perspective.

"As a Penn student, if you're an international, your chances are enhanced because you bring so much more to the table because of your diverse experiences," he said.

However, international students are often forced to plan in advance because of the nature of student visas.

Eighty percent of foreign Penn students are studying in the United States on what is called an F1 visa, Fine said. In addition to clearing internationals to attend school, this type of visa allows for 12 months of optional practical training -- which is essentially paid work outside the University -- either after graduation or over the summer while the student is still enrolled in college.

International students "have to think strategically about their post-graduate plans," said Career Services Associate Director Peggy Curchack.

She added that although this is not a serious dilemma for students who want to go home to work immediately after graduating, those students who wish to stay in the United States and work must be careful how they expend their 12 months.

"It is definitely a consideration," said Deeksha Hebbar, a Wharton and Engineering junior who was born in India but grew up and now lives in Kuwait.

"The kind of exposure you get in America is very different than you get in the rest of the world," she added. "It's worth the investment of my visa time."

Fine said that another consideration for international students is that it can take up to three months to get the necessary employment permission from the government.

Therefore, to start a job that begins on June 1 and be sure that the papers clear in time, Fine said that a student would need to apply for work permission -- and pay the $175 fee that goes with such a request -- by March 1 at the latest. This is, in many cases, long before a student can be certain of having secured a job.

Bahl said, though, that it is common for many big businesses to pay an additional amount to have international students' work requests processed through a much faster "express route."

Although both Bahl and Hebbar said that they themselves have never had problems securing permission to work, Hebbar said that she has "heard horror stories" involving students being careless with their visa papers.

Instead of using up his 12 months of optional practical training, Bahl has decided to opt for curricular practical training, in which there is no limit as to how long a student can work in the United States.

In CPT, students need to get a professor to sign off on making their work experience an independent study, Bahl said.

"I don't believe in the fact that being an international student restricts your chances," Bahl said, although "some people use that as an excuse."

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