On-Campus Employment Eligibility
- Maintain F-1 status
- Not work more than a total of 20 hours per week (including any off-campus work you may have been authorized to perform) while school is in session
- Not displace a U.S. resident.
You may be employed full time during holidays and vacation periods, including summer vacations, provided you are eligible and intend to register for the next school term.
The 20-hour-per-week limit on your employment while school is in session applies to all types of on-campus employment. A 20-hour-per-week graduate assistantship, for example, would preclude any other form of on-campus employment.
Eligibility for a foreign student to hold an on-campus job is verified by CIE.
If an on-campus job meets the requirements below, that job is permissible and is automatically authorized by ICE regulations.
Employment by the university: On-campus work performed for SNHU is acceptable, whether it is employment in the library, the computer center or the housing office, or work required by a scholarship, fellowship or assistantship.
Other Employment on School Premises: Work performed on your school's grounds is "on-campus employment" as long as the employer provides direct services to students. Employment in your school bookstore or cafeteria, both of which provide direct services to students, is acceptable even if the bookstore or cafeteria is operated by a private, commercial firm. Work for a construction company which is erecting a campus building is not acceptable since the construction company does not provide direct student services. Work for a sports camp that is not direct employment by SNHU is not on-campus employment.
Work Off Campus Which Qualifies as On-Campus Employment
Immigration regulations allow you to work at an off-campus location provided:
- the location is educationally affiliated with Southern New Hampshire University
- the educational affiliation is associated with your program's established curriculum or is related to a graduate level research project which SNHU has contracted to perform and
- the work is an integral or important part of your program of study.
Note: Contact the Center for International Exchange before beginning any "on-campus" employment. While employment by the university is clearly explained, the other two types of "on-campus" jobs described above are more difficult to define.
School Transfer
School transfer is now controlled by entering your request into the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. Once you are accepted at a new institution, you will request that your record in SEVIS be transferred on a certain date. Once that date comes, you are not eligible for on-campus work at SNHU, but you may work at the new school.
Program Completion
Once you have finished your program, you may only work on campus if the employment qualifies as optional practical training and you have received OPT authorization from US Citizenship and Immigration Services.