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New Rule Allows US F-1 Visa Applications One Year in Advance

The US will begin allowing student visa applications up to a year in advance, It has been announced. In a bid to get ahead of visa processing times, the US government added a clause on the state department’s website that could see prospective students issued an I-20 form, in order to obtain an F-1  or M visa, up to 365 days before their start date. But students will not be permitted to enter the US until they are within 30 days of the beginning of their university program. The Department of State announced the news with immediate effect. However, the stipulation has yet to be updated on the Department of Homeland Security’s website. Previously, students could only officially obtain an F-1 visa up to 120 days before their program start date, and could only claim an I-20 form up to six months before. Speaking about the update to The PIE News, Virginia Commonwealth University’s associate vice provost for global initiatives, Jill Blondin, said the development was exciting.

“It demonstrates a way to think outside of the box to manage the high demand for visas,” she said.

Optional practical training is a type of employment authorization that allows international students on F1 student visa get work experience in their field of study. In other words, if you have F1 Student Visa, you may work during or after completing your study program and gain valuable experience in your major field of study. The time duration that the USA allows for OPT is 12 months. You can take advantage of OPT both during and after completing your study program.

If you decide to complete your OPT after completing your degree, you will have to complete it without any breaks. And If you plan to take a master course after completing your bachelor degree, you may again get 12 months of OPT. Below is the number of working hours that you get if you participate in OPT during or after completing your study program.

OPT during studying in the USA (Pre-completion OPT)

If your full-time study program at a US university or college is at least 1 year long, you can apply for OPT while completing your program. If you are allowed to participate in OTP, you can work part-time for up to 20 hours in a week and full time during summer vacations and semester breaks.

OPT after studying in the USA (Post-completion OPT)

You may participate in OPT after completing your study program. If you are allowed to participate after completing your degree, you may work full-time or part-time (up to 20 hours per week). The condition of 20 hours only applies if you have a thesis or equivalent pending for submission.