How Indian students can get work visas after studying abroad

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Studying overseas is expensive. However, many countries offer a post-study work visa to international students.

This helps these countries potentially attract skilled talent and fill the skill gaps in their labour market, besides giving students an opportunity to apply their newly acquired skills right after completing their education programme. Some countries offer a pathway to permanent residency following such post-study jobs, but the requirements vary significantly for each. Some countries even offer post-study work options for students not pursuing a degree course, but these often don’t have the best terms and carry a risk of fraud.

Also, the immigration policies of governments can change without warning. For Indian students looking to pursue a bachelor’s degree or higher, here are post-study work visa options offered by some popular countries.

United States The US remains the top preference for several Indian students although it is among the most expensive destinations for overseas education. Two kinds of authorisations: The US has a post-study work visa programme called Operational Practical Training (OPT).

There are two types of OPTs: pre- and post-completion. The former allows you to work part-time while pursuing your studies, and the latter is for after your programme ends. However, remember that for pre-completion OPT, at least one academic year is mandatory.

Job offer: You don’t technically need a job offer in hand to apply for either pre- or post-completion OPT. But in the case of the latter, not securing a job within a stipulated time period can adversely impact your immigration status on the student F-1 visa. More on that later.