Some prospective and continuing scholars who are already inside the U.S., may be eligible for employment based on an independent employment authorization from USCIS or another entity without the need for immigration sponsorship from the ISSO.\u00a0 This category includes recent graduates from U.S. degree programs who have been approved for a period of F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT) or J-1 Academic Training, J-2 dependents who have obtained employment authorization and individuals who have obtained employment authorization based on a pending application for U.S. permanent residence.<\/p>\n
To initiate processing, the host department must obtain an official academic appointment on behalf of the international scholar through the standard appointment channels at the school or college.\u00a0 All prospective scholars, including recent BU graduates who will work at BU after graduation, must check-in with the ISSO prior to employment at BU and present valid U.S. Employment Authorization as well as a copy of the academic appointment or job offer letter so that the ISSO can complete I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification.<\/a><\/p>\n Optional Practical Training STEM Extensions:<\/b> Other Authorization Extensions:<\/b> Some prospective and continuing scholars who are already inside the U.S., may be eligible for employment based on an independent employment authorization from USCIS or another entity without the need for immigration sponsorship from the ISSO.\u00a0 This category includes recent graduates from U.S. degree programs who have been approved for a period of F-1 Optional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8027,"featured_media":0,"parent":193,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8027"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5002"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7164,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5002\/revisions\/7164"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Extending Independent Employment Authorizations<\/h3>\n
\nScholars who are employed at BU using their independent Optional Practical Training (OPT) authorization are typically limited to a period of 12 months of employment eligibility.\u00a0 However, students in certain STEM major fields, may qualify for a 17-month extension<\/a> of OPT authorization to continue their BU employment, provided that their major field of study is on a list of STEM majors<\/a> as designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n
\nEmployees with independent employment authorizations may be eligible for extensions of the work authorization.\u00a0 We recommend that employees eligible for extensions commence the process at least 4-6 months prior to the expiration date to insure continued work eligibility.\u00a0 If an extension is not permitted, consult with the ISSO to determine whether a change to another immigration classification is appropriate to allow for a continued appointment at BU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"