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Immigration

Employment

This information is meant for MIT international students. It is for general informational purposes only. If you are an MIT student and you have further questions about travel and your visa status, please contact the International Students Office and arrange to talk with an International Student Advisor.

Federal regulations significantly limit the opportunities for international students to pursue employment in the United States. Any work related activity, on- or off-campus, paid or non-paid, will require appropriate authorization before beginning the activity.

 

Volunteering

The U.S. Department of Labor defines a volunteer as:

An individual who performs hours of service for a public agency for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation or receipt of compensation for services rendered, is considered to be a volunteer during such hours. DOL 553.103 (pdf)

The Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor further states:

Individuals who volunteer or donate their services, usually on a part-time basis, for public service, religious or humanitarian objectives, not as employees and without contemplation of pay, are not considered employees of the religious, charitable or similar non-profit organizations that receive their service.” (http://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/whd/flsa/docs/volunteers.asp)

Examples of volunteering may include providing your time and service to a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, being a registered in an established volunteer program at a hospital, or giving your time to your church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or similar religious entity.

Any activity or service that does not meet the above definition of volunteering is considered employment with respect to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and requires appropriate authorization as specified within our employment webpages listed above.

Please contact your ISO advisor if you have questions or concerns before beginning a volunteer activity.

Publications, Conferences, and Employment

Students encounter opportunities to submit their work for publication (such as thesis, conference papers) or will receive outreach from publishers or organizations interested in having them contribute to a book, magazine, blog, or other publications. While this is common to most academic programs, immigration regulations do not clearly define in which cases a student would require employment authorization (F-1 Curricular Practical Training, F-1 Optional Practical Training, or J-1 Academic Training) to pursue this experience. Therefore, the ISO strongly advises all international students to consult with their ISO Advisor before engaging in any publication activity to confirm if any employment authorization is required.

In general, the following activities would not require off-campus employment authorization:

  • Presentation of a student's personal research (such as a paper or session at an academic conference) where no stipend, pay, or honorarium is received in return. Reimbursement of actual travel expenses to attend the conference would be allowed, though not to exceed the actual cost of participation.
  • Publication of a student's completed academic thesis/dissertation.
  • Sale of personal intellectual property already completed (such as a painting, book, or other item completed by the student that has not been contracted for the student to produce for another individual or organization).

In situations where a student is contacted by a publisher or other organization to specifically produce, edit, or create a chapter or a whole book, a piece of art, or other item under terms of a contract or other agreement, it may be considered employment that requires authorization. If any remuneration (anything in return) is received for this activity/service, off-campus employment authorization will be required. If others participating similarly in the activity (e.g. co-authors) receive anything in return for the activity, and the student does not receive anything in return, the activity could still require off-campus employment authorization. Publication opportunities that are done for academic benefit only, where no remuneration is received in return by any participant, likely will not require employment authorization.

As highlighted above, each student's situation could be different, so individual consultation with your ISO Advisor and providing any details, written agreements, or other documentation confirming the terms of activity, will be very important before engaging in any such activity,



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