The Problems Faced By Working International Students

And How To Remedy Them

By the United Bulls Group:

Alexandra Tsotsos
Sean Rice
Karyna Shatrova
Samantha Roses

December 5, 2021
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Abstract
F1 visa holders aren’t allowed to work on campus for longer than 20 hours and are not allowed

to work outside of campus. Alongside this issue, international students have many troubles

finding jobs before and after graduation. These issues are due to government concerns about

students working illegally or trying to stay here illegally. Therefore, they limit what these

students can do. Finding solutions to these issues requires lots of background research and a deep

dive into government policy. There are three possible solutions to these problems as follows:

There can be a revision of the F1 visa which would allow international students to be able to

work off campus if they have good academic standing. These students can also assist these

students through the career resource center for USF. Having people to guide these students and

help them find opportunities would work as well. Lastly, USF can provide training related to

OPT and CPT programs to help these students gain work experience. Key parts to these solutions

is understanding how the F1 visa works and understanding why it’s built that way. From these

findings it can be determined that these solutions are feasible with proper methods to attain them.

In conclusion, the F1 visa should and can be expanded to help better the education and success of

these students.
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Contents

Abstract __________________________________________________________1

Overview ________________________________________________________ 3

Introduction _________________________________ 3

Background Information _______________________ 3

Problem Statement ____________________________4

Affected Population ___________________________4

Causes _____________________________________ 5

Decision Criteria _____________________________ 6

Feasibility _______________________6

Financial Cost ____________________6

Time ___________________________6

Solution 1 ________________________________________________________ 6

Solution 2 ________________________________________________________ 7

Solution 3 ________________________________________________________ 8

Call To Action_____________________________________________________ 9

References _______________________________________________________

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Overview

Introduction
F1 visa holders are limited to what they can do. Limiting these students leads to unsuccessful

uses of their visas. For example, many of these students struggle to find jobs that are willing to

hire an international student after graduating. According to some students interviewed for The

Daily Free Press “I feel like employers will just get domestic locals, like employ locals, first

before getting international students,” she said. “It’s definitely harder to get a job for

international students.” (Do par.4) This is because when employers hire these students once they

graduate, employers must file for these students to stay and they refuse to do so. This means

these students who came to the US for a better education end up getting a degree and a trip back

home to their country. Finding solutions to this problem can help influence government officials

for change or even to inform the public about this topic.

Background Information
American universities are well known for their quality and good teaching. Thousands of students

from all over the world strive to study here. To study here in the U.S. an international student

needs to obtain a category F-1 student visa. This is not easy to obtain and can limit many

students from being able to expand their education to the United States. USF is a public

university where more than 5 thousand foreign students from 145 countries of the world study.

All of them come to get a good and demanding education. At the same time, someone wants to

find a job while studying, but this becomes not so easy for foreign students. The problems of

obtaining an F-1 visa become major when it comes to a future life in the United States. There are

several requirements to do so. According to the article “you must be enrolled in a program or

course of study that culminates in a degree, diploma, or certificate and your school must be
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authorized by the U.S. government to accept international students.”(USCIS par.3) Students face

challenges in finding a job in their major, as the F-1 student visa does not allow foreigners to

work off-campus. This is a real obstacle that international students face.

Problem Statement
All international students holding an American F-1 visa are allowed to work only on USF

campus for no more than 20 hours a week, while outside the campus any work activity is

prohibited. Also, foreign students are faced with the problems of extending a work visa after

education, since many employers refuse to hire foreigners, which may affect the further stay of

international students in the United States.

Affected Population
Every foreign student at USF, and in the entirety of the United States, faces this problem and,

here at USF, international students make up a significant portion of the student population. In

2021, 8.5 percent of Tampa undergraduate students and 29.4 percent of Tampa graduate students

were international (“University of South Florida - Main Campus Diversity…”). This issue is

significant in USF because international students make up a large part of the student base,

especially that of graduate students (see Graphs 1 and 2).

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Graph 1 Graph 2

*Data for both graphs 1 and 2 is from the article “University of South Florida - Main Campus

Diversity…”

Causes

According to the rule “students found working illegally are failing to maintain their F-1 student

and risk losing their F-1 student status.”(Freedonia par.1) The reasons for visa-related problems

include America's policy towards foreign students. The government encourages foreigners to

come to study in America, but their main goal is to provide quality education and an opportunity

to improve skills, rather than fill jobs. The government wants students to focus on their studies

and get good grades, rather than being at work all the time. Moreover, the type of visa is not a

work visa, so work is not permitted. The American government fears that if a student starts

working illegally, after graduation he will remain in the country illegally, which is a direct

violation of the law. Also, the reason for visa restrictions may be the fear of the government that

due to the illegal employment of foreigners, the crime in the country will increase. This can lead

to many economic problems. Moreover, there are fears that foreigners will occupy the working

positions of the Americans. That is why many employers do not want to waste time and effort on
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obtaining a visa for foreigners because it is easier to hire a citizen who does not need to go

through the entire complicated visa process.

Decision Criteria

Feasibility: How realistic the process of adopting the solution is; is it attainable soon, is it

attainable with the current amount of resources held by the audience, etc. It is important because

a solution without any realistic means to implement isn’t really a solution.

Financial Cost: Amount of money that will have to be spent in order for the solution to be

implemented. Important because a solution that is too expensive may be counterintuitive.

Time: Time taken for the solution to be fully implemented, as well as the amount of time the

audience must give up to help apply the situation. If too much time is taken to implement the

solution, the problem may grow worse.

Solution 1
There can be a revision of the F1 visa. The F1 visa is a visa which permits immigrants to come to

the U.S and study (“International Student Insurance”). This revision would allow international

students coming to the U.S for school to be able to work off campus when going to college, for

up to 20 hours. However, they would only be able to work off campus if they were in good

academic standing, which is met by having and maintaining a 3.0 overall GPA. The revision

would be done through congress, which could be achieved through residents contacting their

state legislators, as well as collecting signatures. The congress is able to make huge changes

since they have already changed some rules for international students who desire to work in the

USA. According to “In light of economic concerns and pressure raised by high-tech
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professionals, members of Congress and U.S. educational institutions, the George W. Bush and

Obama administrations expanded the OPT program for those with STEM degrees in 2008 and

2016, respectively. This expansion was intended to prevent a “brain drain,” addressing U.S.

concerns of losing students unable to obtain an H-1B visa.”(Ruiz and Budiman par. 20) This

solution does satisfy the decision criterias: Feasibility, financial cost, and time. It would likely

only take a year or two to implement, and it would be a permanent solution. There would be no

financial cost, and it is reasonable to go through the government.

Solution 2
A local solution to assisting foreign students at USF could be to make an addition to the Career

Resource Center. USF already has this resource for students, offering help for students to build

resumes, practice interviewing, and much more (“Career Services”). Having people who are

knowledgeable about student visas here could help foreign students find work opportunities on

campus. After all, in spite of everything, foreign students have a great influence on the internal

structure of universities. According to The Harvard Gazette “without international students in

our institutions of higher learning, contributing to academic discourse, furthering the research

enterprise, and driving the growth of new businesses and industries, we are collectively much,

much less well-off.” (Herpich par. 33) This could easily be done by just adding a section in the

Career Center. This solution would be very feasible - considering the Career Resource Centers

are already a part of the USF community it would not be hard to add a function to the already

existing resource. This also should not cost much in terms of both financial cost or time. This

could be an easy to implement and helpful solution while other solutions that would take longer

to implement go into effect.

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Solution 3

Based on the fact that the main problem of international students is finding a job and building a

career in the United States, it would be reasonable to conduct various training related to OPT and

CPT programs. According to the article about obstacles of international students “In addition to

visa difficulties, international students may face various other obstacles. International students

who do not have strong networking skills may struggle to find jobs. Others must overcome

language and cultural barriers, which can cause potential employers to reconsider hiring

domestic employees instead.”(DO Anh par. 12) These training sessions can be a very good

opportunity for international students to improve their skills. It is quite difficult for foreign

students from the very beginning to navigate how the job system works in America because it

really differs from their countries. OPT and CPT programs provide international students with an

opportunity to gain work experience in the United States in their majors, which can be an

excellent start to their careers. We believe that USF has the ability to create specific training to

provide complete information about these programs and prepare students. This can be achieved

by creating a new department in International Student Services. Not all employers are ready to

accept foreign students into their company, but still, there are many companies that are ready to

take a foreigner. Since USF is a large government university, it cooperates with many companies

which are ready to hire international students. Representatives of these companies can come and

directly share their experience of working with foreigners, what is needed to get a job, and all

details about OPT and CPT programs. We believe they can be a great addition to training. Thus,

employers will also have their own benefit - they will be able to meet foreign students who are
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willing to work hard and strive for success. Therefore, this decision is quite realistic to make and

it will not cost a lot of money and time. There are many clubs and extracurricular programs in

USF, therefore the feasibility of this solution is clear.

Call to Action
We believe that it is very realistic to take certain actions described above. We have provided

various solutions that can be accomplished with little time and money. This is very important not

only for students but also for the country as a whole. The United States is a country with a very

strong economy, renowned for its technology, innovation, and progress. International students

and workers contribute a lot to the US economy. According to the ABC News article "In 2018-

2019, foreign students contributed $ 6.8 billion to California's economy while supporting 74,814

jobs, while in New York, they contributed about $ 5.3 billion and supported 59,586 jobs, and in

Massachusetts, about $ 3.2 billion and 38,799 jobs. " (Mitropoulos par. 11) This can be shown in

Graph 3.

Graph 3

Moreover, it was emphasized that "Many of these international students also contribute to the US

economy after graduation. According to the National Foundation for American Policy, a non-

profit, non-partisan organization, one-quarter of the founders of $ 1 billion US startups were

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international students. " (Mitropoulos par. 13). These decisions should come into action as soon

as possible, so as not to lose foreign students. At the moment, there are a lot of talented students

studying in America and we cannot allow them not to get a chance to work and prove themselves

since they can return to their countries where there are no great opportunities for them.
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References
Do, Phuong Anh. “International Students Face Obstacles Finding Full-Time Employment.”

The Parthenon, 3 Dec. 2019,

https://marshallparthenon.com/23770/news/international-students-face-obstacles-

finding-full-time-employment/

Do, Rachel. “International Students Talk Difficulty of Getting Jobs in US.” The Daily

Free Press, 4 Mar. 2021, https://dailyfreepress.com/2021/03/04/international-

students-talk-difficulty-of-getting-jobs-in-us/

Herpich, Nate. “Harvard Addresses the Challenges for International Students.” Harvard

Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 31 July 2020,

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/07/harvard-addresses-the-challenges-for-

international-students/

“International Student Visas.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, 7 Dec.

2017, https://educationusa.state.gov/foreign-institutions-and-governments/

understanding-us-higher-education/international-student

Mitropoulos, Arielle. “Loss of international students could damage US economy, experts

say.” ABC News, 14 July 2020, https://abcnews.go.com/Business/loss-international-

students-damage-us-economy-experts/story?id=71754388

Ruiz, Neil G., and Abby Budiman. “Increase in Foreign Student Graduates Staying and

Working in U.S.” Pew Research Center, 14 Aug. 2020,

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https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/05/10/number-of-foreign-college-students-

staying-and-working-in-u-s-after-graduation-surges/

“Students and Employment.” USCIS, 13 Aug. 2020, https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-

united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/students-and-employment

“University of South Florida - Main Campus Diversity: Racial Demographics & Other

Stats.” College Factual, 2021, https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-

south-florida-main-campus/student-life/diversity/

“Working in the U.S.” Fredonia, 13 Aug. 2020,

https://www.fredonia.edu/student-life/international-student-services/working-us

“Career Services.” University of South Florida. https://www.usf.edu/career-services/

“What Is an F1 Visa.” International Student Insurance. Accessed December 5, 2021.

https://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/f1student/what-is-f1-visa.php.