Working more than 40 hours on CPT

[Juggernaut17]

I am on a full-time CPT with an F1 visa. I am doing my internship on F1 now. Can I work more than 40 hours as per USCIS rules? I have actually worked 41.5 hours and also got paid for the same. Will there be any issues?

[Altras]

No. there won't be any.

[JoeF]

ZYou need to fulfill the F1 requirements, which means fulltime study. How are you going to do that if you work fulltime?

That CPT seems to be fraudulent.

 

[Thien N]

On 2/17/2017 at 1:15 AM, JoeF said:

ZYou need to fulfill the F1 requirements, which means fulltime study. How are you going to do that if you work fulltime?

That CPT seems to be fraudulent.

 

Not actually. I had only one class in my last semester, and the school allowed me to work full time (>= 40 hrs) since it wouldn't affect my study.

[JoeF]

19 hours ago, Thien N said:

Not actually. I had only one class in my last semester, and the school allowed me to work full time (>= 40 hrs) since it wouldn't affect my study.

Then that school seems to be fake.

CPT is ONLY for work as integral part of the curriculum. It has to be required for the degree. You can't just work because you only have one class. In fact, you need to have a full class load.

You are confirming that the CPT is fraudulent.

[Thien N]

On 2/24/2017 at 9:23 AM, JoeF said:

Then that school seems to be fake.

CPT is ONLY for work as integral part of the curriculum. It has to be required for the degree. You can't just work because you only have one class. In fact, you need to have a full class load.

You are confirming that the CPT is fraudulent.

I studied at University of Houston. You are free to verify with the government to see if it is legit.

 

Here is the link:

http://www.uh.edu/oisss/resources/forms/CPTGraduateStudent.pdf

"CPT can be approved for full time (e.g. more than 20 hours a week) only during the summer and during your final semester if you are authorized for a reduced course load or for full -time equivalency for SEVIS reporting."

So JoeF, if you are not clear about something, then please refrain to discuss about it.

 

[JoeF]

8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(i) https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-11261/0-0-0-17197/0-0-0-17800.html

"(i) Curricular practical training programs . An F-1 student may be authorized by the DSO to participate in a curricular practical training program that is an integral part of an established curriculum. Curricular practical training is defined to be alternative work/study, internship, cooperative education, or any other type of required internship or practicum that is offered by sponsoring employers through cooperative agreements with the school."

Unfortunately, not all universities quite get that...

You probably would have been able to get pre-completion OPT, but CPT has to be an integral part of the curriculum, i.e., required for the degree.

[Thien N]

19 hours ago, JoeF said:

8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(i) https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-11261/0-0-0-17197/0-0-0-17800.html

"(i) Curricular practical training programs . An F-1 student may be authorized by the DSO to participate in a curricular practical training program that is an integral part of an established curriculum. Curricular practical training is defined to be alternative work/study, internship, cooperative education, or any other type of required internship or practicum that is offered by sponsoring employers through cooperative agreements with the school."

Unfortunately, not all universities quite get that...

You probably would have been able to get pre-completion OPT, but CPT has to be an integral part of the curriculum, i.e., required for the degree.

I'm not sure thou.

When I registered for the CPT, they enrolled me to a one-credit course as an "Internship Course" (according to what they said). After the CPT I have to write the report and submit to the DSO so they can check what I have been doing while being on CPT.

Maybe this is one kind of "integral part of an established curriculum" which you and the site mentioned.

[JoeF]

Even then, it doesn't look that it is required as part of the curriculum. Essentially, being an integral part of the curriculum means that everybody studying the same thing would be required to take an internship or practicum. It can't be an optional thing.

Generally, CPT is used for internships when a class requires it, for all people taking the class. It can't be "you want to take CPT? Here, take a class for it." It is for "you are taking this class, it requires an internship. As foreign student, you can use CPT for it." As you can see, CPT is incidental for this, the requirement to take an internship is what matters. Americans who take that class can just do an internship, foreigners on F1 have to use CPT to take the internship.

It's a subtle, but important distinction: It can't be a class just for taking CPT. It has to be a class in the curriculum which just happens to require an internship.

Of course, after the fact you can't do much about it anymore. But be aware that it may result in issues. When it doubt, it is best to not do CPT.