CPT vs. OPT- What’re the Major Differences?

CPT or the Curricular Practical Training status helps students on an F1 visa work part-time and earn enough to take care of the living expenses at the study time. The CPT status helps students in getting some real insights into the industry and helps improve their outlook. CPT allows students to get paid internships and learn from the experts in the industry, but the internship must be directly related to the subject in which the student is pursuing a course.

At the time of admissions at a university in the US, students are assigned a Designated School Official (DSO) that authorizes the students to work in the CPT and gain some practical insight. The DSO mentions all the details in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS), and it is mentioned on the I-20 form issued by the university. This makes the students eligible to work as an intern in the course of their studies. DSO is the nodal authority for the CPT, and any confusion on this can be directly communicated for redressal.

Read more about: What is an I-20 Form?, and its importance.

The CPT always needs a letter from the employer under whom the student is expecting an internship. The internship period must be specified and can’t be an indefinite period. The CPT must be concluded before the conclusion of the course for which the student has enrolled in the university. With CPT, a student can work either full-time or part-time. If a student chooses to work full-time, they can work for more than 20 hours or more per week, while in part-time work, students have to work for 20 hours or less per week. One of the contention with working full-time is that students working full-time for 12 months automatically become ineligible to work in the OPT, i.e., for post-study work. 

OPT or the Optional Practical Training (OPT) status helps students get work post completion of the studies. Since the US is home to the world’s top companies, it becomes the first choice of every student to take up the job and get first-hand experience in the field of study. The courses offered at US universities are always crafted in a way so that the graduates are ready for their parent industry. OPT helps students work after completing the course, and this also comes under the DSO or the Designated School Official. The DSO mentions the OPT in the I-20 form and makes the student eligible to take up a job in the US after completing the studies. The OPT status allows students from bachelor’s and master’s courses to take up jobs in the US

Read more about: Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 Students

The DSO gives the recommendation on the SEVIS, and students become eligible for taking jobs. The employment process starts with the job seeker sending a mail to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) an Application for Employment Authorisation. The Application for Employment Authorisation is also known as the I-765 form. Once the I-765 form gets approval from the USCIS authorities, the student gets an EAD or the Employment Authorisation Documents. EAD has a date on it after which the student can start working in the US after the completion of the course. No employer can give any work under the OPT before the start date mentioned on the EAD.