Whether you need a work permit for an internship comes down to your immigration status. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents don’t need any federal work authorization to intern, paid or unpaid. International students on F-1 or J-1 visas do, and they need it in place before the first day of work, even if the position pays nothing.
Citizens and Green Card Holders
If you’re a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, your status already gives you the unrestricted right to work. You can accept a paid or unpaid internship at any employer, in any field, without filing anything with the federal government.
One caveat for younger interns: many states require workers under 18 (or under 16, depending on the state) to obtain an employment or age certificate before starting a job, including an internship. These are issued by school districts or state labor departments, usually free, and have nothing to do with immigration.
F-1 Students
F-1 students face the strictest rules. Any off-campus internship must relate to your field of study, and it must be authorized before you start. There are three main pathways.
On-Campus Work
On-campus jobs don’t require anything from USCIS. You need approval from your school’s Designated School Official (DSO), and you’re capped at 20 hours per week while classes are in session. Full-time hours are allowed during breaks. This covers positions at the school itself and at businesses that serve the campus.
Curricular Practical Training
Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is the usual route for internships tied to your degree. The position has to be an integral part of the established curriculum, meaning a required practicum, a co-op placement, or a course that carries academic credit. CPT is only available before graduation.
Your DSO authorizes CPT directly by endorsing your Form I-20 with the specific employer and dates. There’s no USCIS application and no Employment Authorization Document. You cannot begin work before the CPT start date printed on the I-20.1Study in the States. F-1 Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
Watch the hours. Accumulating 12 months or more of full-time CPT disqualifies you from post-completion OPT.2eCFR. 8 CFR 214.2 – Special Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status Part-time CPT (20 hours per week or less) doesn’t count toward that threshold, so if you plan to use OPT after graduation, keep track of your full-time CPT hours.
Optional Practical Training
Optional Practical Training (OPT) gives you up to 12 months of work authorization tied to your field of study but not to any specific course. Unlike CPT, OPT requires filing Form I-765 with USCIS and receiving an Employment Authorization Document before you can start.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 Students
Two versions exist:
- Pre-completion OPT is available after one full academic year of enrollment. Work is capped at 20 hours per week during the semester and can be full-time during breaks. Each part-time semester eats into your 12-month total at half the rate.
- Post-completion OPT is available after you finish your degree. Work must be full-time (more than 20 hours per week), and you can’t be unemployed for more than 90 days over the authorization period.
Timing is unforgiving. For post-completion OPT, you can apply as early as 90 days before completing your degree and no later than 60 days after. USCIS must receive the application within 30 days of your DSO entering the OPT recommendation into SEVIS.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 Students There is no appeals process for a late filing, which makes this one of the most costly mistakes international students make.
STEM OPT Extension
If you earned a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in a qualifying STEM field from an accredited U.S. institution, you can apply for a 24-month extension of post-completion OPT, bringing total work authorization to 36 months. The extension has tighter conditions than standard OPT:
- Your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing.
- You and the employer must complete Form I-983, a formal training plan showing how the job builds on your academic learning.
- The position must offer duties, hours, and compensation comparable to what U.S. workers in similar roles receive.
- Unpaid positions, volunteering, and self-employment don’t qualify.
The unemployment limit rises to 150 days total across the combined 36-month OPT and STEM OPT period. If you file the extension on time but your initial OPT expires while USCIS is still processing, your work authorization automatically extends for up to 180 days.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Optional Practical Training Extension for STEM Students (STEM OPT)
J-1 Exchange Visitors
If you’re on a J-1 visa in a student category, the pathway is called Academic Training. It lets you gain practical experience directly related to your major field of study, either during or after your academic program.
Authorization comes from your J-1 program sponsor, not USCIS. The sponsor issues a written approval letter and updates your Form DS-2019. Both your academic dean or advisor and the program’s responsible officer must sign off.
Duration depends on your level:
- Undergraduate and pre-doctoral students can use up to 18 months of Academic Training, or the length of the full course of study in the U.S., whichever is shorter.
- Post-doctoral researchers can use up to 36 months, or the length of the full course of study, whichever is shorter.
Both caps include any prior Academic Training you’ve already used.5eCFR. 22 CFR 62.23 – College and University Students If you change employers during post-completion Academic Training, the authorization must be continuous with no gap in dates. Each new position needs its own AT request, even if you hold multiple part-time roles at the same time.
DACA, H-4, and Visitor Visas
DACA recipients who hold a valid Employment Authorization Document can accept an internship like any other authorized worker. Current grants and EADs remain valid until they expire. USCIS is currently blocked by a federal court injunction from granting initial DACA requests to first-time applicants, but renewals continue.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
H-4 dependents (spouses and children of H-1B workers) generally cannot work unless they independently qualify for an EAD. Some H-4 spouses become eligible once the H-1B holder reaches a specific stage in the green card process. H-4 children typically have no path to work authorization.
Visitors on B-1/B-2 visas or the Visa Waiver Program are not authorized to work in any capacity. Accepting even an unpaid internship on a tourist visa can be treated as a status violation.
Unpaid Internships Still Need Authorization
The absence of a paycheck does not eliminate the need for work authorization. For anyone on a student or exchange visitor visa, unpaid internships require the same CPT, OPT, or Academic Training approval as paid ones. Immigration authorities look at whether the activity is employment, not whether money changes hands.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Students and Employment
H-4 children and visitors face the same rule. If immigration authorities view the arrangement as productive work performed for an employer’s benefit, they can treat it as unauthorized employment regardless of whether you were paid.
What Happens If You Intern Without Authorization
Working without the right authorization is a failure to maintain nonimmigrant status. Under federal law, any nonimmigrant who fails to comply with the conditions of their status is deportable.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens An F-1 student who starts an internship a week before CPT authorization prints on the I-20 has technically violated their status.
The consequences reach well past removal risk. Unauthorized employment can block you from adjusting to permanent resident status later. USCIS policy bars adjustment for anyone who has accepted unauthorized employment, whether before or after filing the adjustment application.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual – Unauthorized Employment
If the violation leads to unlawful presence and you leave the country, reentry bars can attach. More than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence triggers a three-year bar on readmission. One year or more triggers a ten-year bar.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens These bars apply even if you have a willing U.S. employer sponsor or a pending family petition.
Once You’re Cleared to Start
Every paid intern completes Form I-9 to verify identity and work eligibility using documents from the I-9 acceptable documents list. A U.S. passport alone covers both identity and work authorization. An F-1 student on OPT would typically present the EAD card (Form I-766) plus a state ID or other identity document.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents Employers enrolled in E-Verify create a case only for paid interns, though anything of value (free housing, meals) may push an unpaid role into paid-employee territory for verification purposes.12E-Verify. Is My Company Required to Create E-Verify Cases for Its Interns and Unpaid Employees?
If you’re an international student starting a paid internship, you also need a Social Security Number. Visit a local Social Security office with your unexpired passport, your I-94 record, and proof of work authorization: an I-20 with CPT endorsement, an EAD card for OPT, or a DS-2019 for J-1 students. F-1 students working on campus also need an employer letter and a confirmation letter from the school’s international office. There is no fee.13Social Security Administration. International Students and Social Security Numbers