On campus and off campus part time employment for F1 US Visa holders

Students who are in their first year of education in the U.S. on the F1 Visa are not supposed to seek off-campus employment to support their living expenses in the country. For this, the applicants need to approach the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) which may grant the permission to work off-campus in very few circumstances.

Students can work on their respective campuses without seeking any exclusive permission from USCIS. A student can work for 20 hours a week during the course commencement and during semester breaks, the students can work up to 40 hours a week like any other full-time employee.

The exceptions which can be off-campus and may be most likely accepted by USCIS for the students to work are fellowships, assistantships, research programs etc.

Talking about off-campus employment, the designated school official comes into picture in approving permission for students to work off-campus. However, such approvals are solely at the discretion of the designated school officials. Even that is eligible for an application only when a student has crossed a minimum of 1 year of stay on the campus on the course.

Any kind of breaching of regulations directly result in deportation of students and such breach would be like illegal off-campus working like working in hotels, gas station, grocery stores etc.