International students

After graduation, international students studying at UB have exactly 60 days to pack their bags, take their last few snapshots of Niagara Falls, and hightail it out of here before US Immigration Enforcement comes knocking on their door. Those who don't want to leave have either the choice of higher education or employment.

"We don't allow people to just hang out," said Mark Popiel, who teaches an immigration clinic through the UB Law School. "You have to have a purpose to be in the US. There has to be a legitimate reason for them to be here."

The reason for most international students to stay in the US is to work and to gain experience on the job that can be taken back to their home country. Unfortunately, the hunt for employment has left some students dismayed, with nothing left to do but "hang out" and hope for an interview.

Foreign students who have an F-1 visa, the typical student pass for temporary study in the US, can apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT) after graduation. Students who can bear the $340 processing fee and at least three months for paperwork to be reviewed could be granted 12 months of OPT, which is intended to give them professional experience at a job relating to their degree.

"OPT is an attractive feature of our system," said John Wood, associate vice provost for International Education. "It's very valuable to a lot of students."

The student must find a job that meets certain criteria, such as being relevant to the student's field of study and open to degree-holders only; flipping burgers at McDonald's won't cut it.

Some have found that months go by with barely a glance from potential employers, let alone an invitation to join the company. Henry Mok, a Malaysian student who graduated from UB with a B.S. in electrical engineering, applied to at least 80 jobs during his OPT in the Buffalo area. With only a few interviews and no job offers, Mok spent his summer perfecting his fishing skills at a friend's farm rather than his engineering expertise.

"Our roots are not here," Mok said. "There's a risk that we would want to go back to our home country. I think that's always on the employer's mind."

Students who do attract the attention of employers can find themselves on the road to more long-term work if the company is willing to sponsor them for the H-1B visa, which allows three to six years of residence in the US as a worker.

"The opportunity for international students to have OPT...is extremely helpful," said Magdalena Jaworska, a 2006 graduate of UB with a master's in applied economics. "If we didn't have that, nobody would really hire us. Having that option, you can start as an intern and then get into the US work environment."

Jaworska was hired for a permanent position at Arbor Capital Management, an investment counseling group based in Amherst, after completing an internship with the company.

The desire to be sponsored for the H-1B visa is a topic that should be brought up in the job interview, said Dan Berger, an immigration attorney based in Massachusetts, in a presentation for international students in November.

The cost of an H-1B visa is steep - over $2,000 for private companies with more than 25 employees, according to Berger. The paperwork is tedious, as heightened security checks after 9/11 have slowed the process.

Employers, in addition to being required by law to pay the fees, have to prove that they could not find any better qualified domestic workers instead. Beyond that, the company's role is only to sign papers, as long as a lawyer helps to sort through the intricacies of the visa process.

However, mentioning the word "visa" is often an employer-repellant for some international workers, probably because the company fears a mountain of paperwork.

"Applying for permanent positions was very hard," Jaworska said. "A lot of companies didn't even want to talk to you unless you had a green card. I think they're afraid that the visa process is complicated, which is not true."

The final step is to apply for the visa by April 1 - the first day applications are accepted. Students with a bachelor's degree are competing with over 100,000 others for an allotment of 45,000 visas. This year, it took only one day for the quota of H-1B visas to be filled.

"There's such a discrepancy between the need and what they allow," Jaworska said.

Twenty thousand visas are set aside for foreign workers with a master's degree or Ph.D., and those visas are relatively easy to come by, as are visas for students who are offered a position at UB - there is no quota for University employment.

After establishing H-1B status, foreign workers can reap the benefits of experience at an American job for the next few years. While they watch their resumes grow, making them more competitive in their home country, some foresee their bank accounts dwindling because of discrimination.

"Companies are very welcoming to international students because they can pay them less money than the local workers, even if their ability is equal," said Ping Lu, a sophomore management major from China, who plans on staying in the US to work after she graduates.

Lu said she knows people caught in this situation, but that after the workers prove their abilities on the job, their salary will increase.

Jaworska, however, said she hasn't experienced any discrimination, in pay or otherwise. Regardless, most foreign students agree that salary is not their top priority.

"I don't really care about the money," Lu said. "I want the experience."