How do American students stay and work in the local area after graduation?

If American students want to stay in the local area after graduation, they must first apply for optional training (visa-free internship), that is, OPT；; It allows foreign students to get a one-year off-campus job after completing their studies in the United States, and the OPT of science and engineering students can even be extended to 29 months. Then use OPT's legal identity to find a suitable job while internship. After that, you should apply for an H 1B visa (short-term work visa) according to the employer's wishes, and get the right of abode in the United States for 6 years. Finally, you can ask your company to apply for becoming a permanent resident for yourself, which is commonly known as a green card.

The specific steps are as follows:

The first step is to choose a major.

The new "Science and Engineering Students Employment Act" (STEM for short) promulgated by studying in the United States focuses on science and engineering students, and future immigrants have more advantages. Specifically, it is science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Short for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). As early as June 5438+ 10, 2006, US President Bush announced an important plan-American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) in his State of the Union address, and proposed that one of the goals of school education is to cultivate STEM talents.

STEM includes computer science application, actuarial science, engineering, engineering technology, science and technology, biology and biomedical science, mathematics and statistics, military technology, physical science and medical science.

The STEM field itself needs professionals, and all levels of school education also need STEM teachers, so the employment prospects are bright.

The second step is to contact the internship before graduation.

Job recruitment in the United States attaches great importance to work experience. Internship in the United States is the best time to accumulate work experience. The United States provides two internship opportunities for foreign students related to their majors.

There are two kinds of student visas in the United States, F 1 student internship visas, namely:

CPT visa (current practical training)

OPT visa (optional practical training)

The difference between these two visa:

1, CPT visa is used during the study period, such as paid internship courses, such as studying hotel management. During the sophomore year, you can go to practice for one year, but the total length of CPT can be close to one year (364 days), but not more than one year (365 days). OPT visa is used after graduation, and it is a transitional visa after studying in the United States.

2.CPT generally needs to apply after one year of enrollment, but this is not the case if graduate students have to take an internship immediately because of the needs of the course. If you have studied more than one degree at the same level, for example, you have studied several master's degrees, then the length of one year is that all master's degrees add up to one year, instead of each master's degree having one year.

3. the 3.OPT visa needs to be applied 3-4 months before graduation, not later than 3 months after graduation. You can work for any employer during your internship. After you lost your job, you didn't lose your identity immediately. Students can apply once after each learning stage, which means that you can apply once for undergraduate, master and doctoral graduation.

4. If students graduate with F 1 visa and don't find a suitable job during OPT, they won't pack up and go back to China immediately. If his or her spouse is F 1, he or she can transfer to F2 visa. If his or her spouse is H- 1B, he or she can apply for an H-4 visa. If you don't have a spouse, you can try to switch to the learning state of F 1 again.

The third step is to apply for an H 1-B visa.

The visa for international students is usually F- 1 visa. Except for internships, international students cannot work legally in the United States. If you want to stay and work in the United States, you must apply for a professional work permit, that is, an H 1-B visa. Before applying for this visa, you must first find a job related to your major. Employers are willing to apply for H1-B. Employers can submit an application for working conditions (LCA) to the Ministry of Labor, indicating that employers will pay wages not lower than the current wage standard and provide equal treatment to other employees. Employment will not have a negative impact on the work of other employees. After the LCA is approved, submit an application for H 1-B to the Immigration Bureau.

The basic requirement of H 1-B visa is that the work to be done requires a bachelor's degree or above, which just meets this requirement. The H 1-B visa is issued to foreigners, which means that people can apply even if they are not in the United States. However, relatively speaking, there are many more opportunities for international students to get a degree in the United States. If you show your advantages in OPT internship, your company will be happy to run H 1-B. Usually, the duration of H1-B is 3 years, which can be extended for 3 years.

The fourth step is to apply for permanent residence.

During the working period with H 1-B visa, the company can apply for permanent residence for itself and get the so-called green card. If you have difficulties, you can only find a job in a unit that is willing to apply for a green card. This kind of immigration is called employment-based immigration. International students who have obtained a degree in the United States apply for the second priority in the professional immigration category (EB-2). You must have a master's degree or a doctorate. There is also the third priority (EB-3), which does not require a postgraduate degree. Handling these two types of immigrants must pass the labor certification. An employer applying for a green card must submit an application to the Labor Department to prove that no ready-made American citizen or permanent resident meets the basic requirements or is willing to accept the employment of the employee. Foreigners can only do this job, which will not adversely affect the salary and working environment of American employees engaged in similar jobs. The employer also promises that the job is not temporary and the salary paid is not lower than the prevailing salary level of this kind of job. The establishment of work permits in the United States, in layman's terms, is to protect Americans from being robbed of their jobs by foreigners. If the work permit is approved and the green light is given, the employer can successfully apply for a green card from the Immigration Bureau.

If you are an outstanding talent, researcher, professor, etc. , you can apply for the first priority (EB- 1). Or you can prove that the job is in the national interest of the United States, then you can apply for a special project in the second priority EB-2, namely the National Interest Exemption (NIW). These two types of applications do not require a work permit.