查看完整版本: 什么是OPT, 什么是H1B

什么是OPT, 什么是H1B

什么是OPT?

　　OPT 是英文Optional Practical Training 的简写。它是让留学生将所学专业知识到校外运用于实践的一种临时工作许可。F1签证学生可以在毕业之后有1年的Optional Practical Training时间，这段时间你有工作许可，可以为任何公司服务，但要求你必须得做和你的专业有关的工作。如果国际生在毕业后60天内仍未找到相关专业领域的工作实习单位，申请不到移民局发放的EAD（Employment Authorization Document）卡，进而也申请不到OPT，就必须离开美国。

　　OPT分学习结束前的OPT和学习结束后的OPT两种。一般来说在上学期间任何时候都可以用OPT工作。移民条例规定下列三种情况下学生可以用OPT实习：第一是放年假期间和学校没有开学的其他时间，但学生必须还在登记注册，而且有条件或资格并有意在下学期进行注册上课；第二是学校正在开学期间，但学生实习不能超过一周20个小时；第三是完成课程之后的毕业实习。但大部分的同学还是在完成课程之后申请OPT，因为OPT只有一年时间，如果在上学期间用完，就意味着毕业后必须按照规定立即离开美国境内。在实习期间，留学生仍然保留F-1身份，如果找到合适的工作单位，该单位愿意担保并帮助留学生申请办理代表工作身份的H1B签证，那么留学生的“命运”才会进入到下一个阶段。需要注意的是，OPT并不是一种签证类型，留学生的学生身份并没有改变，它只是学生身份到工作身份的过渡阶段，而且这个阶段时间很短，只有一年。在这一年内，如果找不到公司愿意帮助办理工作签证，或者没有抽中工作签证，那么留学生仍然只能选择回到原属国。


H1B签证知多少?

　　H1B签证属于非移民签证的一种，是指特殊专业人员/临时工作签证Specialty Occupations/ Temporary Worker Visas (H-1B)。H1B签证系美国最主要的工作签证类别，发放给美国公司雇佣的外国籍有专业技能的员工。持有H1B签证者可以在美国工作三年，然后再申请延长，但前提是签证者仍然被雇佣，并且其工作仍然被雇主所需要，并能持续产生价值。

　　金融危机后，美国经济缓慢复苏，失业率开始下降。但是，对于留学生而言，美国的就业环境仍然异常严峻，就业机会非常有限。换句话说，找工作本身对留学生而言就是异常艰难的一件事，现在还需要找愿意帮助留学生办理工作签证的工作，更是难上加难。


难在哪儿呢？

　　第一， 对于雇主来说，帮助留学生办理工作签证需要额外给联邦政府缴纳一笔费用，并且需要专门的律师来办理相关的文件。除非该公司特别需要这位留学生的专业技能，否则，但凡是能够找到美国本地人的工作，一般不会考虑外国人。再者，留学生从语言到文化，都和本地人有相当的差距，在申请工作这一步上就并不具有优势。

　　第二， 每年联邦政府发放的工作签证都有一定配额，2003财政年度以前，外国人的年度配额为195,000人。“911”以后，每年度的签证数额一度降低到65,000人，现在则是每年85,000人。在这些名额中，还需要扣除为“智利”和“新加坡”两个协约国公民所预留的7000个名额。每年的H1B申请配额都非常紧张，现在的H1B申请被大家戏称为“乐透”，申请签证只是第一步，申请了并不代表就能获得批准，因为配额的限制，H1B基本是“随机抽签”决定，主要靠“运气”。要知道，在刚刚过去的2017财年的H1B申请过程中，移民局一共收到236,000份申请。统计显示，其中硕士及以上学位的申请“抽中率”为60%，其他仅为30%左右。因此，大部分雇主有时候不愿意冒险雇佣需要办理工作签证的留学生，就怕万一抽不中，那么交代的工作很可能就会因为留学生的离开而中断。当然，抽中了也不代表就进入了保险箱。移民局发出抽中的通知后，会有3个月的时候对抽中的申请进行全面审核，主要看申请者的专业和工作是否有相关性，公司是否符合相关规定等，也有不少人是在这段审核期被“刷下来”的。


要想申请H1B也并不容易，来看看时间差就知道了。

　　基本上留学生毕业主要在夏季和冬季，也就是5、6月和11、12月，而H1B的申请截止是4月初，意思就是说，3月底时律师必须要准备完所有材料然后准确无误的寄到移民局。对于不论是夏季还是冬季毕业的留学生来说，申请H1B的机会就只有来年的4月那一次。夏季毕业的留学生相对的优势在于有10个月左右的时间可以找工作，而冬季毕业的留学生就只有3个月左右的时间，必须要找到合适的工作单位并且得到单位帮其办理工作签证的承诺。相对来说，只有在STEM专业的留学生因为可以延长OPT时间，有2-3次机会申请（希拉里暂时还没当总统，至于她说要直接给STEM专业的外国留学生发放绿卡，大家先听着就好）。



抽不到但又想留下来怎么办？

　　有不少非STEM专业的留学生因此选择了“继续深造”。他们通常会选择一个比较容易申请，并且能够提供F-1签证的学校，一边读书，保持F-1身份，一边等待来年再次申请。当然，这样做会增加一笔不小的开销，第二次被抽中的几率也并没有被提高多少，并且在读书期间还要维持此前的工作，压力和负担都大。另外，新移民条例允许留学生在美国修完一个学位可得到12个月的实习期。读完本科，可以申请12个月的OPT实习。读完硕士，再拿12个月的OPT实习期。修完博士学位，也取得12个月的OPT实习。不过，一旦对应学位的OPT用完，就无法再次申请了。

　　再者，就算申请到H1B也不算进入保险箱。（刚签证生效的你们要认真看！）

　　据报道，在南加州担任会计工作的中国留学生吴同学去年4月递件申请H1B工作签证并顺利抽中。但是8月初，他突然收到移民局的来信表示，这家公司并不必须聘用他这位外国雇员，同时还要求他30天内离境。吴先生不知所措，向律师咨询得知，向移民局申诉成功的情况非常渺茫，自己也一头雾水，最后只好订了8月28日的机票回国。

　　抽中的H1B在例如“转换雇主”、“转换身份”、或者“公司裁员”以及“申请时作假”这些情况下就是张“空头彩票”，随时有“不兑现”的可能。

　　H1B的申请形势越来越严峻，从H1-B到绿卡的排期又在增加，加上美国大选民主党和共和党的移民主张又截然不同，让不少人对H1B的未来感到不太乐观。
　　

网上看到的，此为扫盲文。我把广告删了，留下基本内容。

补充一下，
目前政策是，STEM专业OPT期限为36个月，不是12个月。12个月是一般专业的OPT期限。

H1B Cap Reached Date graph

[attach]826646[/attach]

回复 4楼pp_dream 的帖子

看图：这几年都是额度一放出就用完

:flower: 谢谢PP

转

特朗普应该不会减少学生签证的数量，但是他之前已经讨论过取消现有的OPT制度。现有的OPT制度让学生持有学生签证，但可以合法工作1年到3年的时间。现有的CPT制度应该不会有太大的变化（CPT是指学生可以在校读书期间合法工作）。

通过提高薪水要求来改革H-1B签证移民系统

特朗普希望通过大大提高“行业平均薪水”来限制美国公司聘用来自中国或者其他亚洲国家的员工，即使这些员工完全符合法规条例里面定义的“高水平”。

印度，中国，菲律宾和韩国是四个最大的给美国输送只有H-1B工作签证劳动力的国家，特朗普的这项政策会大大改变这个数字格局。

但是！特朗普的副总统Mike Pence已经提出加倍提供H-1B签证的名额来应对需求。所以对于真正的高精尖人才，这个措施并不会带来太大的变化，反而可能是一个好事。值得注意的是，特朗普的老婆刚刚到美国的时候也是持有的H-1B签证。这个签证系统改革是肯定的，但是对于真正的高精尖人才来说并不是什么毁灭性的坏消息。

For most of us who care deeply about the relationship between the United States and China, the potential election of Donald Trump was a looming specter that haunted the progress we’ve achieved over the past decades in terms of cultural exchange and bilateral economic cooperation.

While traveling across China and other East Asian countries, I received tons of questions and letters from concerned students and parents about the implications of a Trump presidency.

An excerpt from an opinion piece written by Joshua--a top student at a very competitive international school--captures this sentiment quite clearly:

“In some ways, the stereotypes you may have about me are true. I, along with just about every one of my peers, do in fact spend large chunks of our days studying. We all do this in the hope of someday studying in prestigious universities abroad: I dream of eventually going to college in America myself. The very real prospect of Donald Trump becoming the President of the United States has made me reconsider . . . . We are all afraid that America is now slowly moving away from the country we all dreamed of going to school for growing up. And if Donald Trump becomes President, maybe it won’t be.”

This morning’s announcement that Donald Trump pulled off a surprise upset victory was indeed upsetting for most of America. And, I mean that literally. Most of America voted for Hillary Clinton, and she won the popular vote; however, like Al Gore in 2000, she lost the electoral college vote and Donald Trump won the race to 270.

So, as I remind students who ask questions like this and feel the way Joshua clearly feels, most of America voted for a message of inclusiveness and diversity. Trump’s rhetoric was divisive, but his policies (not his proposed policies) will belie his true intent.

Although I was personally disappointed by the election result and even until 11 p.m. last night never thought I would be writing this article (actually, I wrote an article about the implications of Clinton’s win in advance!), there is no reason for uncertainty on the part of Chinese students seeking to study abroad or about the larger picture of U.S.-Chinese relations. The United States political system features numerous checks-and-balances such that the president has leeway to impose his own foreign policy, but doesn’t have anything even close to total control over it. Cooler heads will prevail over the divisive and flamboyant campaign rhetoric that was designed to rile people up and motivate them to go out and vote.

Still, the end to this bitter competition marred by divisive rhetoric and cat-fighting will still come as a welcome relief to most Americans and most of the world. Even most of the top Chinese policymakers are thought to prefer Clinton to Trump despite her presidency likely making the U.S. a more formidable economic rival. For many on both sides of the world, the risks and uncertainties of a Trump presidency would have outweighed any potential benefits to China in terms of overtaking the United States. Regardless of political rhetoric, the relationship between the United States and China is important to politicians and citizens in both countries.

Regardless of Trump’s assumption of the presidency in January, the economic cooperation and deepening of the relationship between the United States and China shall continue with only minor speedbumps. As with any global rivals, there will be rough patches. Nonetheless--things like this image below--an picture of a ballot in New York (Trump’s son’s illegally posted ballot picture, in fact) serve as encouraging evidence of the deepening of ties and mutual cultural appreciation between the United States in China. This is certainly the first ballot I’ve ever seen with Chinese characters prominently featured as the second language on the ballot.

With common decency as well as global economic stability as paramount goals for both countries, everyone is hesitant to embrace Trump. However, we’ve already seen much of this overreaction ameliorated even overnight. For instance, futures trading on many financial indices was halted after huge drops in the Dow, SPY, and Asian exchanges; even the Mexican peso was down 10%. All of these “temporary losses” turned into gains when the markets opened this morning, and the initial shock of the election is beginning to wear off.

Still, people are curious. What will Trump’s presidency mean for immigration policies? For H1-B and other visa applicants? For Chinese students coming to America to study?

The answer: We should expect a continuation of many of the same policies of the past decade, and an increase in those that promote economic cooperation. There will be more divisive rhetoric and posturing, but most policies will not change too dramatically.

Here are Trump’s key policy stances in this regard, and their likelihood of being enacted:

1. Ending “Birthright” Citizenship - This is a constitutional right in the United States. If you are born on American soil, you are automatically a U.S. citizen. This language in the constitution was interpreted by the Supreme Court in 1891 in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark which actually involved a Chinese immigrant, and they ruled in his favor and have held that policy ever since. Asians have been a political target here with many conservatives critical of “birth tourism” in the United States. Like many things on Trump’s agenda, this is all talk. There is not going to be a constitutional amendment, and the Supreme Court is not going to change its mind because it would require a constitutional amendment, which is only possible with a vote of two thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and then ratification by three fourths of the state legislatures. That’s never going to happen.

2. Limitations on J1-Visa - Trump has been quoted saying that he will abolish the J-1 visa program in favor of a new policy that allows America’s inner city youth to benefit from these opportunities. J-1 visas are educational exchange visas granted for 30 days to allow international folks (students, mostly) to come to the United States for a period of two years as long as they live in a homestay and work in a variety of industries. Live-in Au Pair programs are some of the most popular programs here. This is a very specific type of visa, and one not used very often by Chinese students. For most Chinese students seeking to study abroad, they would use an F-1 visa. The abolition of this type of visa, however, would severely limit the amount of research scholars, professors, and other types of visiting scholars coming to the United States. Given that the goal of Trump’s policy reform would not necessarily be to cut those educational 是否folks out, but to cut out the influx of cheap labor in industries like child care and healthcare, it’s likely that there would be another program or loophole created such that there was no real change for the visiting research scholar-type people

3. Increasing EB-5 Investment Program - In his business career, Trump funded many of his projects including Trump Tower (and has bragged about it) with money from foreign (mainly Chinese) investors who invest cash for visas in programs like the EB-5 program. It is likely that we will see little change to this program substantively, but may even see an increase in these types of visas.

4. Abolishing OPT from F-1 Student Visas - Trump is unlikely to decrease the amount of student visas granted; however, he has discussed ending the Optional Practical Training Program (OPT) which provides a means for international students to work via a F-1 visa for a period of a year or so while not enrolled full-time in school. CPT work--practical training for international students on an F-1 visa for pay--during school is unlikely to change, however.

5. Reforming H-1B Visa Immigration by Increasing Pay Requirements- Trump wants to increase the “prevailing wage” drastically to discourage U.S. companies from hiring workers from China or other Asian countries, even if they are “highly skilled” as per the definition in the statute. India, China, the Philippines, and South Korea are four of the top five countries sending H-1B visa holders to the U.S., and this change would adversely affect that number. However, Trump’s Vice President--Mike Pence--proposed an increase a doubling of the H-1B cap to allow for a rise in visas granted under certain conditions; so, for top graduates who can command high-paying jobs, this won’t be much of a change and could even be a positive change. It is worth noting that Trump’s own wife was on an H-1B visa when she came to the country. H1-Breform is coming, but won’t necessarily be detrimental to most of the highly qualified applicants we see.

Bear in mind that Trump has no clear electoral mandate having lost the popular vote. Although Republicans will control Congress and the White House, they still require Democratic cooperation on a number of issues to push their agenda forward. Many believed Trump is fairly liberal policy-wise despite his “America First” rhetoric, and his past political contributions and activity point to that fairly strongly. I expect him to become much more moderate while in office than he was throughout his campaign. While statistics and polls served us poorly in this election, it was always clear that whoever won this election was likely to be a one-term president. This means that, for most international students seeking to study in the United States, Trump will be out of office by the time you graduate from college and are seeking to use OPT or obtain an H1-B visa. Given that there will be no decrease or other policies that could potentially disadvantage F-1 visa seekers, the result will not much of a change for most Chinese students seeking to study abroad in America.

We’ll keep you posted on any important policy changes, which would likely come within the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency (from January to April), and how they might affect your goals of working abroad after you complete your studies. For the most part, though, Trump is concerned about illegal immigration from Mexico and refugee flow from other countries and preventing big IT companies and companies like Disney from purposefully outsourcing jobs at lower wages; and, for most of you in China, the good news is that those policy changes will have little to no effect.

都是转的，特此说明

希望真正贯彻而不是随意说说。这样你们米国人才真的过上好日子。

转

有人还在懵逼，有人已经开始担心：
川普当了总统，我的H-1B怎么办？
我的绿卡怎么办？
难道我真的要收拾行李准备打道回府了？

1990年老布什总统签署实行H-1B工作签证、2004年小布什总统加入H-1B advanced degree、还是小布什总统在2006年签署实行STEM专业OPT延期，包括下任副总统迈克-彭斯曾支持2006年法案将H-1B名额从65,000个增加至115,000个，并且如果申请人数在当年超过名额，可允许临时增加名额。

有前面几位亲高学历留学生的共和党总统垫底儿，共和党本届大选全端白宫、国会，看上去对留学生更有利啊，那你还慌个什么劲儿呢？

川普誓将改革H-1B

川普近期奉行的H-1B政策可以用两句话简单粗暴地总结：提高H-1B外籍员工现行工资标准和必须先雇佣美国人。



川普从竞选之初，每每谈到移民问题时都会提及美国企业解雇本土员工，使用相对廉价的外包服务。他指出美国三分之二的入门级IT类工作都由H-1B外籍员工所占据，而多半雇员的工资是H-1B的最低工资标准，80%以上雇员的工资在最低的两档。STEM专业毕业生也被点名。

川普认为，增加H-1B外籍雇员的最低工资可以使美国公司首先考虑本国失业的员工，而不是雇用国外的廉价劳动力。他相信在工资标准提高后，硅谷的科技公司便会优先考虑美国非裔、拉美裔以及本国女性雇员。

持有H-1B的小伙伴们，你们可能要涨工资了，开心吗？

可大家还是免不了要担忧，外籍员工的工资标准提高的同时，被提高的还有美国雇主的录用门槛，H-1B员工的高性价比优势就将会减弱。


信不信由你！

川普在当选总统之前在H-1B领域的论调比较多变。虽然他竞选官网上表明了鲜明的反对态度，他还认为STEM专业是一个“有预谋的谜团”，但他也曾公开地180度改变态度支持H-1B：“美国正在流失大批人才...我希望将这批人才留在美国，这样他们就可以去硅谷工作了。”

上半年在底特律举行的共和党初选辩论中，终于有人受不了直接向川普发问：您一会支持一会反对，到底对H-1B持什么态度？

川普的支持态度在此大爆发：我改主意啦，改主意啦！(原话是I'm changing. I'm changing…...)我改变态度、不像原来那么强硬了，是因为我们国家需要高级人才。他还表示很多外籍人才、名校毕业生毕业后很渴望留美，但是很多人毕业不久就回国了，美国流失了很多人才。

可好景不长，当天晚上辩论结束后，川普的团队在网上又改回以往的强硬反对态度。竞选团队为他圆场解释，川普认为H-1B只不过是从国外引进的短期外籍劳工，目的仅仅是用廉价劳动力取代美国雇员。他当时下定决心全力取消这种猖獗的H-1B滥用现象，并且要永远停止把H-1B用作是获得廉价劳动力这样的做法。

成功打击H-1B滥用现象之后怎么办？会对现行H-1B政策进行一次彻头彻尾地全面改造吗？川普对此并未提及。




川普上台告别职业移民绿卡？

再来看看职业移民绿卡。

今年夏天当川普还是一名普通的总统候选人时，硅谷有150位科技领袖、科研人员、公司创始人集体签署了一份反对川普移民政策的公开信。谷歌、苹果、Facebook、Tumblr等公司负责人纷纷加入并签署了此反对信，原因是硅谷认为川普是“创新产业的灾难”（disaster for innovation)。



川普在自己的竞选网站上清楚写着：雇主需要先“暂停”(pause)一下，必须首先雇佣美国失业移民以及本土员工。并且他认为，这样可以增加女性就业以及促进工资水平增长。


说白了，这一政策就是鼓励雇主雇佣“自己人”，促进美国失业人群就业。其实，目前申请EB-2/EB-3职业移民绿卡在申请劳工证PERM之前就需要进行“打广告”，说明这一岗位招不到符合要求的美国人或绿卡持有者，这才准备为外籍员工申请绿卡担任此职位。川普虽然没具体说要在为外籍员工发放绿卡上如何“暂停”，但看似是要增加职业移民绿卡申请的整体难度。


很多在美新移民都遵循着一条“高端路线”：来美国接受高等教育，毕业后从事高新技术产业或商业，再通过工作签证获得绿卡、最终入籍。
根据《纽约时报》的统计，过去十年中每年通过工作签证移民的华人比例约占整个华人移民数量的30%，而在美其他少数族裔留美方式主要为婚姻或亲属移民，相对来说华人较少通过非法方式留在美国。


根据美国人口统计局2013年的调查报告，有51%的华裔分布在管理、商业、科学等高收入行业，共和党的很多政策更有利于这部分精英阶层和主流新移民人群。


昨天失败的不仅只有希拉里，奥巴马的政治遗产也被全面否定，面对奥巴马执政八年留下来的一堆烂尾工程，选民们期待川普可以驾着七彩祥云、凤冠霞帔地让这个国家真的可以再次强大起来。

入主白宫后川普当年竞选的过激政策可能不会一一兑现，希望有了专业人士的辅佐川普能够修补现阶段千疮百孔的移民漏洞，真的做到他在获胜演讲时许诺的：成为这个国家里每一个人的总统！

[[i] 本帖最后由 pp_dream 于 2016-11-12 04:35 编辑 [/i]]

回复 12楼pp_dream 的帖子

我的猜测：
Trump在任期（可能四年），对H1B不会有大变动；
对绿卡政策也不会有大变动；

对非法移民也不会驱逐，只是对有犯罪记录的非法移民会驱逐；
米墨边境也不会筑什么墙

据说H1B门槛要年薪$100K了？

回复 14楼kathy_tang 的帖子

我也看到这个谣传了，有国会议员提案。

如果议案通过，对应届毕业生会有影响，对有工作经验的人没大碍。

[url]http://www.flcdatacenter.com/[/url]
click:
FLC Wage Search Wizard

select a state

select an area

select an occupation

=> check the wage levels & Mean Wage

H1B wage标准好像是Level 3 Wage。我随便查了一下，工程师的wage标准已经都在$100K以上了:P

回复 15楼pp_dream 的帖子

就是，留学生更难留下了。