Attention international students: Review the guidelines below before applying for the Graduate Student Career Exploration Grant
Graduate international students completing an off-campus IAP internship must receive off-campus work authorization (CPT, OPT, or AT) before they can begin, even if receiving funding through the Career Exploration Grant. OPT authorization can take up to 120 days for processing.
According to immigration regulations students must have off campus authorization (CPT, OPT, AT) to engage in practical training activities that are off campus. This includes instances that are unpaid or underfunded opportunities. Please plan accordingly to secure authorization on time before the start of your Career Exploration Grant.
International students are strongly encouraged to first review the ISO’s information on employment and then contact their ISO advisor, department’s Graduate Administrator, Thesis Advisor and Tavi Sookhoo with CAPD to understand their eligibility for the Career Exploration Grant.
Before you apply for the Career Exploration Grant:
- Verify that you’re eligible to get off campus work authorization
- First Year International Students (graduate or undergraduate) are NOT eligible for off-campus employment authorization in their first year. All new students must be in the US enrolled in a full-time program for a minimum of one academic year (two full terms) before they are eligible for off campus work authorization. Of campus authorization is required to engage in micro-internships and student must be eligible for either CPT or pre-completion OPT. J-1 status students must apply for Academic Training.
- If you are eligible for both OPT and CPT but you are considering CPT, please be sure to check with your graduate program administrator regarding whether you have an internship or experiential learning subject in your degree program curriculum that will count towards fulfilling graduation requirements and that you are eligible to complete this subject. This is required to apply for CPT (unless the student is in a Master’s/PhD program and the internship is based on thesis course). See CPT website for details.
- Apply ONLY for experiences that align with your field of study (all off campus work authorization must be directly related to student’s major field of study)
- Be sure to review the ISO employment website for information on off campus employment: https://iso.mit.edu/employment/.
If you are accepted for the Career Exploration Grant:
- Begin the process to get off campus work authorization IMMEDIATELY
For Masters or PhD students, if you have already completed all coursework requirements, but just have thesis remaining, you may not be eligible for CPT authorization.
If you are not eligible for CPT authorization, then you need to apply for Pre-Completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) authorization. This application requires an application with $410 fee to USCIS and it currently takes 90-100 days on average to get approved.
The ISO website provides extensive details about CPT and Pre-Completion OPT, carefully review the information and reach out to your ISO Advisor with specific questions.
