Comment by mikeyouse
7 hours ago
Our small company offers a remote paid mentorship for students anywhere in the world - often times, international students in the US want to apply but then there’s substantial confusion on whether they can be paid without jeopardizing their status. The stipends we pay are all 1099 and it’s mostly self-directed work so we’re a bit at a loss in regards to the CPT/OPT qualifications. Many end up forgoing their stipend which sucks for students in an expensive place.
Any thoughts there?
Maybe Peter can comment further, but my impression was that the definition of "work" is normally unrelated to whether it's paid or not, for F/J?
If those students are actually concerned about staying in status, simply saying they're volunteering might not be sufficient.
That's right. Working without pay in jobs that normally are paid could still be considered unauthorized employment.
The students should speak with their DSOs (Designated School Officials) because they must have work authorization to get paid whether they're paid by a U.S. or foreign source or paid as a 1099 contractor or W-2 employee. But I don't see why both CPT and pre-completion OPT wouldn't work.