F-1 and J-1 students may work on campus 20 hours or fewer per week while classes are in session and full-time during vacation terms or any official school breaks. F-1 students do not require additional permission for on-campus work.

J-1 students must have permission from their program sponsor prior to beginning on-campus employment if the employment is not listed as a source of funding on their DS-2019.

Please note that on-campus is defined as work for Carnegie Mellon University. Work that takes place at Carnegie Mellon for another employer (a professor's private company or companies housed in the Collaborative Innovation Center, for example) or work that takes place at another school is not considered "on-campus" and would require employment authorization. Students should discuss employment authorization with their OIE advisor for any employment opportunity that involves an employer other than Carnegie Mellon University.

Students may search for on-campus employment using Handshake, faciliated by the Career & Professional Development Center (CPDC). Exchange students must visit CPDC in person to access Handshake.

Your summer CPT dates are based on Carnegie Mellon's academic calendar. Contact your academic department about whether they are enrolling students in the summer internship calendar. 

The CPT dates can only be changed if the academic calendar changes. If you wish to work beyond the summer academic or internship calendar, you may be able to apply for pre-completion OPT.

International students who will be conducting their internships outside the U.S. do not need U.S. work authorization (CPT or OPT). That being said, OIE recommends that your employment offer letter and/or additional employer email(s) should mention that you will be working remotely from outside the U.S. You should save this information for your immigration records, so that if you are ever asked questions regarding this internship, you can explain the situation and provide documentation.

If at any point, though, during your internship you decide to return to the U.S. and continue working while you are physically in the U.S., you must obtain a valid U.S. work authorization in advance. Also, make sure to obtain a proper employment authorization in the country where you are planning to work, if it’s not your home country.

There is currently no specific government guidance regarding employment address for remote CPT authorization. OIE recommends the following:

• Make sure to check with your employer about what address they require to be listed on your CPT I-20 before you apply for CPT. This information may be important for your employer’s hiring and payroll process. If your employer does not have a policy regarding what employment address they require on your CPT I-20, we recommend that you use your employer's address, until there is further government guidance.
• Make sure that the employment address that you request for your CPT I-20 is also listed in your employment letter.

SEVP has provided guidance (pdf) that per USCIS' Form I-765 instructions, students must be physically present in the U.S. at the time that they submit an OPT or STEM OPT application.

According to SEVP guidance (pdf), "Students participating in OPT and STEM OPT may work remotely as long as they continue to comply with the regulatory requirements regarding practical training at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii) and continue the training’s mentoring relationship, including completion of the Form I-983, 'Training Plan for STEM OPT Students,' for STEM OPT participants." The guidance states that the employer address listed in SEVIS should be the remote location and that students on STEM OPT should work with their employers to "update the site address on the Form I-983 to reflect the remote location.“

The five-month rule is not applicable to individuals during their OPT or STEM OPT period.

SEVP has provided guidance (pdf) for students working under OPT/STEM OPT work authorization regarding remote work. The guidance states that the employer address listed in SEVIS should be the remote location and the students on STEM OPT should work with their employers to "update the site address on the Form I-983 to reflect the remote location." Students on Post-Completion OPT can update the employer address in the SEVP Portal or MyOIE Portal. Students on the STEM OPT extension submit the updated I-983 via email to oie@andrew.cmu.edu. 

International students who will be employment outside the U.S. do not need U.S. work authorization (for OPT or CPT). That being said, OIE recommends that your employment offer letter and/or additional employer email(s) mention that you will be working remotely from outside the U.S. You should save this information for your immigration records, so that if you are ever asked questions regarding this internship, you can explain the situation and provide documentation.

If at any point during your internship, though, you decide to return to the U.S. and continue working while you are physically in the U.S., you must obtain a valid U.S. work authorization in advance. Also, make sure to obtain a proper employment authorization in the country where you are planning to work, if it’s not your home country.