Frequently Asked Questions

To be “in-status” means that you are following all of the rules for F-1 International Students and are allowed to remain in the United States. This means that you are:

• Going to school full-time
• Have made sure your records are all current
• Have followed the rules for employment

The two easiest ways to lose your “in-status” designation and to be out of compliance are to:

• Work without authorization
• Drop below a full-time course load (or have too many online courses)

Yes, but during the Fall and Spring semesters, you must be enrolled in at least nine (9) credit hours of in-person courses as an undergraduate student, or three (3) credit hours of in-person courses as a graduate student. Unless your program has required Summer courses, you may take as many online courses during the Summer as you like.

To open a bank account, you will need your student ID, passport/VISA, a current I-94, and your signed I-20 to any bank. Friends University has a relationship with Bank of America down the street and they are happy to enroll students into a bank account, but students can get bank accounts anywhere they would like. If you would like assistance in getting a bank account, please schedule an appointment with Case Bell at Case_Bell@Friends.Edu.

Yes! You can travel anywhere inside the United States, but you should keep a copy of your I-20 and your passport with you at all times when not in Wichita. If you want to travel outside of the country, just be sure that your I-20 has a travel endorsement signed on page 2 within 12 months. It is recommended that you get the travel endorsement signed every time you leave the country.

CPT is the tool given to international students to allow them to gain practical experience in their chosen field. Students are eligible to work off-campus, so long as they are approved for CPT or Economic Hardship.

It is very important to understand that the purpose of CPT is to gain experience or training in your program, not to provide employment opportunities. You can certainly earn money while doing CPT, but CPT is not designed for that purpose.

To apply for CPT, you must:

• Have been a student in the United States for at least two full semesters
• Have a job offer
• Be enrolled in a course, in your major, that is active during the timeframe you will be employed
• Be doing work that is related to what you are learning in that course

You can work for any business, so long as the specific position you will be filling is in your Program field. Please remember your CPT will only last as long as you are enrolled in the specific course you put on your CPT Request form.

First, come talk to the Director of International Student Services (Case Bell, Case_Bell@Friends.Edu). You will be given a recommendation form for your Academic Advisor or professor to fill out. You will also need an offer letter from the potential CPT host that details their:

• Contact information
• The position you will be filling
• The duties of the position
• The specific start and end dates of the employment

With those two documents completed, the Director of International Student Services will issue an I-20 with a work authorization on it.

You can use CPT once per semester, but only as long as you are taking a course in your program major and that course is related to the work you will be doing. If you are not receiving credit towards your degree or the work is not directly related to a course you are taking, you cannot do CPT.

Yes! There is part-time CPT and full-time CPT. There is no limit to how much part-time CPT you can accrue. However, there IS a limit to how much full-time CPT you can accrue. If you accrue 12 months or more of full-time CPT, you will not be able to apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT) when you graduate.

Economic Hardship is the work authorization that allows students experiencing difficult financial circumstances to try and earn enough money to stay in the United States and go to school. To apply for economic hardship, please contact the Director of International Student Services, but please be aware, this is a long process and does cost $470 to apply. It is not meant to provide immediate financial support.

OPT allows international students to continue their education in the United States after graduation. Graduates can work for up to twelve (12) months in their field. STEM graduates may qualify for an additional twenty-four (24) months of OPT.

To be eligible for OPT, you must:

• Have been a full-time student in the U.S. for at least two semesters by the start date of OPT.
• Have maintained F-1 status at the time of application.
• Not have used OPT previously at the same degree level.

Yes! You are eligible for twelve (12) months of OPT for each level of education you complete in college! That means you can do twelve (12) months of OPT after your Bachelor’s and another 12 months after your Master’s degree. To be clear, this only applies when you get a second degree at a HIGHER level. You CANNOT do OPT twice if you get two Bachelor’s degrees.

Yes, there is a pre-completion OPT. However, most people chose not to use this, as you cannot do both pre-completion OPT AND post-completion OPT. If you wish to work while in school, we recommend a campus job or exploring Curricular Practical Training (CPT).

To apply for OPT, make an appointment with the Director of International Student Services (Case Bell, Case_Bell@Friends.Edu). You can apply up to 90 days before your Program End Date, and up until 60 days AFTER your Program End Date. You will need to fill out an I-765 application online and collect all of the documentation, as well as include a payment of $470.

Yes, it costs $470 to apply for OPT. It can be paid by credit/debit card.

You can apply up to 90 days before your Program End Date, and the applications are usually processed within 3-5 months. It is recommended to apply for OPT as soon as you are eligible.

You will need to make sure you have plans and funds to live in the United States while you wait for your OPT application to be processed. It is recommended that students apply for OPT as soon as they are eligible. Students should not plan to travel outside the United States before their OPT application has been approved or before a job has been secured.

You can request that the application be withdrawn, but this needs to be done as soon as possible. Once the application is approved, it cannot be withdrawn, and applicants do not usually receive refunds once the payment has been processed.

No, students can accrue up to 90 days of unemployment before they are considered to be in violation of their immigration status.

No, once you start a new Program, it will automatically end your OPT. This includes transferring to another school. Once a SEVIS record is transferred to a new school, it will automatically end your OPT.

If you graduated with a degree recognized by USCIS as being a STEM degree, then you can apply for a twenty-four (24) month STEM extension. This process is very much like the original OPT application process. The major difference is that you must apply for a STEM extension with a specific employer and there are periodic evaluations that must be completed by the employer and employee. You can change employers during the extension time-period, but you must have an employer to apply.

Yes! However, you cannot be self-employed for the STEM extension.