Columbia University

Work during study

F-1 students may work on campus without separate USCIS authorization: up to 20 hours per week while school is in session, and full-time during official school breaks and the annual vacation, at a qualifying on-campus job (or an off-campus job that is educationally affiliated with the school, e.g. contractually funded postgraduate research) that does not displace a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. Off-campus employment based on economic need is not available by default — it requires case-by-case USCIS approval (a separate Form I-765 Employment Authorization Document application), granted only after a full academic year in status and only on a showing of severe economic hardship from unforeseen circumstances (or a DHS-declared 'emergent circumstances' event), and is capped at 20 hours/week in session, full-time out of session. Curricular Practical Training (CPT) and pre/post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) are separate, study-related practical-training work authorizations governed by their own rules (OPT is covered under 'post-study work' in this entry).

Post-study work visa

Optional Practical Training (OPT), including the 24-month STEM OPT extension . Up to 3 years
Any F-1 graduate, in any field, may apply for up to 12 months of post-completion Optional Practical Training (temporary employment directly related to their major, authorized via an Employment Authorization Document from USCIS; any pre-completion OPT already used is deducted from this 12 months). A graduate whose degree appears on DHS's STEM Designated Degree Program List (defined by Classification of Instructional Programs codes covering engineering, biological sciences, mathematics, physical sciences and related fields — not every STEM-sounding degree necessarily qualifies) may then apply for a further 24-month STEM OPT extension, for a combined maximum of 36 months, provided the employer is enrolled in and stays in good standing with E-Verify, signs a formal Form I-983 training plan, and the graduate works at least 20 hours per week for that employer. A second 24-month STEM OPT extension can become available if the graduate later earns another qualifying STEM degree at a higher educational level. Allowed unemployment while on OPT is capped at 90 days on the initial 12 months and a further 60 days (150 total) if a STEM extension is granted. Separately and importantly: a DHS final rule taking effect 15 September 2026 replaces the prior open-ended 'duration of status' framework with a fixed admission period (based on the program's length, capped at 4 years) — an F-1 student who needs to remain for post-completion OPT or a STEM OPT extension beyond that fixed period must separately file and be approved for a USCIS Extension of Stay (Form I-539) or the OPT/STEM OPT authorization cannot lawfully be used to remain in the country.

Route to permanent residence

OPT and the STEM OPT extension are temporary work authorizations tied to F-1 student status — neither one converts automatically into any form of permanent residence. The realistic route runs through employer sponsorship: an employer petitions for a temporary H-1B specialty-occupation worker visa (initial period up to 3 years, extendable to 6, generally requiring at least a US bachelor's degree or equivalent in a field directly related to the job), which is numerically capped at 65,000 new statuses per fiscal year plus a 20,000 exemption for holders of a US master's degree or higher, and allocated by an electronic registration lottery when demand exceeds the cap — USCIS confirmed the regular cap and the master's-degree cap were both already reached for fiscal year 2027 as of this reading. While on H-1B (or, for a smaller number of people, directly from F-1 in narrower cases such as extraordinary-ability or national-interest-waiver petitions), an employer or the individual can pursue one of five employment-based immigrant-visa (green card) preference categories (EB-1 through EB-5), most of which require the employer to first obtain a Department of Labor labor certification (PERM) showing no sufficient, willing, qualified US worker is available for the role — a process with no fixed timeline. Approximately 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are available across all categories each fiscal year, and per-country annual limits mean the wait for applicants born in some countries (notably India and China) is materially longer than for others.

Route to citizenship

Naturalization is administered by USCIS — the same agency that runs the immigration system, since both sit under the Department of Homeland Security. The most common route requires having held lawful permanent resident (green card) status for at least 5 years (3 years if married to and living with a US citizen for that period), continuous residence in the US for that period, physical presence in the US for at least 30 months of the preceding 5 years, at least 3 months' residence in the state or USCIS district where the applicant applies, good moral character for the qualifying period, basic ability to read, write and speak English, knowledge of US history and civics, and taking the Oath of Allegiance. The Oath itself contains renunciation language — an applicant swears to 'absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty' of which they were previously a subject or citizen — but this is a declaration of allegiance to the United States rather than a mechanism the US enforces against a person's other citizenship: US law does not require a naturalizing citizen to formally give up their original nationality, and the State Department's own guidance states that a person may naturalize in the United States (or abroad) without any requirement to choose between US citizenship and another nationality. Whether the applicant's country of origin lets them keep it in turn is that country's own decision, not a matter of US law.

What the government currently prioritises

The United States has no federal points-based or general shortage-occupation list of the kind Canada, Australia, the UK or New Zealand publish. The closest official equivalent is the Department of Labor's narrow 'Schedule A' designation, published on USCIS's own site, which exempts only two specific groups of occupations from the standard PERM labor-certification process because DOL has already determined there are not enough available US workers for them — it is not a broader skills-shortage list and covers only a handful of roles.