Alas, that time has come. Your earnest pursuit of an education in a foreign land has paid off. It’s taken long hours and hard work, to be sure, but you’ve earned the engineering or computer science degree that will open the door to opportunity. At one time you planned to return home after graduation, but you’ve become accustomed to the face of Uncle Sam, and now you want to stay.

But, there’s just one obstacle. Your F-1 visa will expire once you’ve completed your course of study and 30 days is all the time the United States has given you to pack your bags, say your goodbyes and head for home. Don’t you have any other options?

Fortunately, you do, thanks to Optional Practical Training (OPT), an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)-approved program that allows an international student to work up to 12 full months, 40 hours per week, after graduation. “OPT is designed to give international students practical training in an area of employment directly related to their major area of study,” explains Tara Brown, international student advisor at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. “All that students have to pay is $100 and they get the chance to work legally anywhere they want in the U.S.”

You can apply for OPT through your university. The INS allows you to send the completed application form in as early as 120 days before graduation, but no later than 60 days after graduation. “Students won’t get any special consideration if their application is late,” Brown adds. “As a bureaucracy, the INS can be slow, so it’s best to begin working on the application as early as possible.”

Jose Flores, executive director of the New York City-based Kaplan International Programs, a service provider for international students and professionals, advises students to begin pursuing OPT as an option at least six months prior to graduation. “A student has to give themselves at least that much time to cope with immigration regulations, look for a job and notify the university of his or her intentions to apply for OPT,” says Flores.

It’s also smart to be begin working on your OPT early because it might be tough to find a job. “The economy is not as strong as it was a couple of years ago,” says Karen Meade, an immigration lawyer in Cleveland, Ohio, who helps students with visa issues. “High-tech and computer companies have even cut back. It may take an international student longer now to find a job in their major area of study.”

But don’t fret if you can’t find one, because the INS doesn’t require you to have a job to get approved for OPT. “I’ve known students who were on the program for nine months before they found a job,” Brown explained. “In fact, it’s possible for a student to go through the entire 12-month OPT period without working.” But, Brown added, that’s unusual. “Most students want to work, so they can bring money home with them.”

How do you know if the INS has received your OPT application? Expect to receive a Form-797 (Notice of Application) about four to six weeks after sending in it in. Once approved, the INS issues an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), which contains your photo and the inclusive dates of employment. Note that you can’t accept employment or start working before the date that’s stamped on your EAD.

Here are some other important things you need to know about OPT:

• Students on a F-1 visa are only eligible for OPT if, as INS regulations state, they have been “lawfully enrolled on a full-time basis in a service approved college, university, conservatory or seminary for at least nine consecutive months.”
• Only one 12-month period of OPT is available during a student’s stay, no matter how many degrees were earned.
• International students can travel outside the U.S. while on OPT and still be re-admitted, but they can’t leave the U.S. before obtaining authorization for OPT. “You won’t get permission to enter OPT after returning to the U.S.; in fact, you won’t be able to re-enter the country at all,” Meade says.
• Students are ineligible for OPT if they have participated in 12 months or more of full-time Curriculum Practical Training, which includes programs such as co-ops or internships.
• The spouse or children of a student on OPT may not accept employment.
• The INS has to give you the reason or reasons for denial of OPT, but (sorry)—you can’t appeal the decision.

A year may not seem like much time, but here’s some more good news. While on OPT, a student can try to extend their stay in the U.S. even longer by getting a H1-B visa, which allows non-immigrants to work in the country for up to six years. Many of the applicants are engineers and computer programmers, and while most workers on the visa are recruited from outside the country, students on OPT are eligible to apply for a H1-B visa as well.

But as Meade explained, “You can’t send the visa application in yourself because you need an offer from an employer and the employer must file the application on your behalf.”

It’s not uncommon, though, for an employer to want to keep a OPT student employed on a long-term basis. “I’ve advised several employers on how to petition the INS on behalf of OPT students,” Meade said. The H1-B is good for three years and can be renewed once for an additional three years.

Yes, engineers and computer programmers are prime candidates for H1-B visas, but it’s a lot tougher now to get one. The U.S. has changed the immigration law, putting a quota on the number of H1-B visas the U.S. grants annually. “In the past, when the economy was good, some students tried to bypass the OPT and get a H1-B visa while they were still in school,” Brown explained. “That’s not a practical option today. I would advise them to concentrate on getting the OPT first.”

So relax. Staying in the United States once you’ve graduated isn’t as difficult as it first seemed.