F-1 On-Campus Employment
F-1 regulations allow F-1 students in good standing to engage in paid 'on-campus' employment for any Tufts University department, office, or unit.
On-Campus Employment Eligibility
- You are enrolled as a full-time student at Tufts
- You have a valid, unexpired I-20 from Tufts as well as an I-94 record indicating that you have F-1 status
- You are making satisfactory progress toward your degree or educational objective
- You have a valid, unexpired passport
Restrictions
- On-campus employment is restricted to Tufts University departments or offices, and the actual work must take place on a Tufts University campus (however, see exceptions below)
- IMPORTANT NOTE: Many companies, organizations, and foundations (including the Tufts Telefund) may have "Tufts" in their name but are not on-campus employers; students should always confirm that their job is with a Tufts University department or office
- You must be paid directly by Tufts University through the Tufts University payroll system
- You are not eligible to accept on-campus jobs that require federal work-study (FWS), with the exception of international undergraduate students with Tufts financial aid who have been given international work study authorization as a part of their financial aid package
- IMPORTANT: You can have more than one on-campus job, but the total number of hours you can work across all jobs cannot be more than 20 hours per week while school is in session
- Full-time employment (over 20 hours per week) is permitted during the summer vacation period and school breaks between terms
- IMPORTANT: On-campus employment authorization ends immediately once you finish your degree requirements, withdraw from your program, or your I-20 expires, whichever comes first
- You may not continue to work on-campus once you have stopped being a student or finished the requirements for your program (in most cases, this will be the final day of your final semester)
- It is up to you to ensure that you comply with this requirement; any employment undertaken after you finish or stop your studies requires other types of authorization, such as OPT
- Failure to work without authorization may lead to a loss of your immigration status and required departure from the US
Authorization Procedure
- You are not required to obtain International Center authorization for on-campus employment; however, see the exceptions list below
- You do not need a Social Security Number (SSN) to apply for or start on-campus jobs, but you should take immediate steps to apply for a SSN once you have obtained a job offer
- Your on-campus employer will provide you with additional paperwork and instructions regarding the hiring and payroll process
Exceptional Situations
In limited situations, on-campus employment may include opportunities that involve non-Tufts organizations and companies. Please read below for exceptional situations and contact the International Center if there are any questions.
Under F-1 regulations, a job may be considered "on-campus employment" even if the job is paid and supervised by an outside company or organization, but only if the job takes place on the University campus and involves direct student services. Examples of direct student services are jobs working at the campus bookstore or the campus dining services. These jobs are based on the campus and involve services needed by students as a part of their academic and residential experience.
Jobs that do not provide direct student services by outside companies would not be considered on-campus employment. This includes jobs with companies, organizations or foundations that manage on-campus activities such as university fundraising campaigns, marketing for commercial products and services, and related activities.
Companies that operate direct student services may hire students directly without special authorization. On-campus employment is not included in your SEVIS record. However, any on-campus job that qualifies under this exception as a direct student service is subject to the same 20-hour / week limitation with other on-campus jobs offered directly by Tufts.
Note: at Tufts, employment with the Tufts Telefund is NOT considered on-campus employment. At this time, employment with Tufts Mail Services is also not available to international students as on-campus employment.
Students who are working for and paid by a Tufts University department may engage in occasional work activities at off-campus locations if off-campus travel is needed to fulfill primary on-campus job duties. In these cases, the on-campus job is carried out at an on-campus department, but occasional off-campus travel may be needed for job- or work-related purposes. Hypothetical examples include: working as a sports team manager that involves travel to games at other universities; working as an event coordinator that involves occasional off-campus trips; going to a fieldwork or data site to collect data or other materials to bring back to a campus lab; and going to meetings and conferences at an off-campus site.
In general, jobs that are paid by a non-Tufts company or organization, and which take place at off-campus locations, do not qualify as on-campus employment. In such situations, students may need to explore work authorization under curricular practical training (CPT) or another type of F-1 work authorization instead.
However, work at an off-campus organization may be considered 'on-campus' employment if one of the following is met:
- There is a written affiliation agreement between Tufts University school and an outside organization to carry out activities at an off-campus location, and the job activities that are carried out under this agreement are related to the school's established curriculum and to the student's field of study; or
- (Graduate students only) There is a contractual agreement between a Tufts department or faculty member to carry out research projects that requires paid activities at the outside organization, and the student is offered employment under the terms of this contract
If there are questions regarding this, please contact the International Center. These exceptions apply whether the job is paid by a Tufts department or by the outside organization.
Students interested in working at Tufts Medical Center (TMC) should be aware that jobs located at TMC are NOT automatically considered on-campus employment. This is because TMC belongs to Tufts Medicine, which is an independent non-profit organization that is separate from Tufts University.
However, under F-1 student regulations at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(i), there are specific exceptions that allow employment at an outside organization to be considered as on-campus employment. In order to qualify, there must be an educational affiliation between Tufts University and the outside organization and the employment must be an integral part of the student's academic program. Because Tufts University and TMC / Tufts Medicine are educationally affiliated organizations, employment at TMC may count as on-campus employment if:
- The student will not work more than 20 hours per week while school is in session, inclusive of all jobs across Tufts and TMC
- The job opportunity at TMC is integral to the student's educational program and/or part of a contractually funded research projects at the graduate level
- The job opportunity will be supervised by a Tufts Medical Center employee who also holds dual appointment within the student's school (in most cases the School of Medicine or the School of Dental Medicine)
Tufts undergraduate students in F-1 status are not permitted to consider employment at TMC / Tufts Medicine as on-campus employment and must instead qualify for different work authorization such as Curricular Practical Training. In addition, jobs of an administrative nature (e.g., office work or other work not related to the student's academic program) are not permitted.
Note that on-campus employment (including educationally affiliated employment) ends once the student completes their degree requirements, or their I-20 expires, or they otherwise end their F-1 status with Tufts.
To request on-campus employment authorization at Tufts Medical Center, contact the International Center at internationalcenter@tufts.edu. You will be asked to provide a letter from your academic advisor certifying that the job opportunity has been reviewed, has been found to be integral to your educational curriculum and/or related to a contractually funded research project, and will be supervised by a member of the Tufts faculty with joint appointment at Tufts Medical Center. In addition, the advisor must verify that the job opportunity will not exceed twenty hours per week while school is in session.
Please note that in addition to Tufts University approval, TMC may require its own approval procedures independent of those of the University. Please discuss this with the TMC supervisor or department manager where the job opportunity is located.