International Students

20/40 Work Hour Rules

International students are limited to working no more than 20 hours per week (Sunday through Saturday) during academic periods and 40 hours during breaks. We use the official end-date of the semester to determine when a student can increase their hours. Students' hours are tracked closely and students will be terminated from the student employment program if they violate this requirement. Hours must be submitted timely in the current payroll period.

Your visa requires compliance and must not be violated, even once. If you have questions, please contact Krittika Onsanit in the Center for Global Engagement or Devon Slough in the Office of International Taxation.

Late payment hours are added to previous applicable pay period totals to ensure you did not exceed your limits. Resident Assistants (RAs) are assigned 15 hours per week, which counts toward the weekly hour work limit. If you are unsure as to the amount of hours assigned to your position, contact your direct supervisor. 

International students who are graduating must stop working on or before graduation day. Exchange students whose exchange has ended must stop working the last day of class.

Eligibility for Student Employment

Due to tax treaties and conditions of the student visa for which the student was allowed to enter the United States, it is necessary to process international students slightly different than US citizens.  Federal guidance for F-1 student employees is available here.

International students cannot be hired under the Federal Work Study (FWS) program and therefore should only be hired in positions that are considered University Work Program (UWP).

International students are eligible to work for the University of Richmond if allowed by the conditions of their visa. Follow the Steps to Employment to complete the verification process to be eligible to start working. It is illegal to work before this process is complete.

Caution:  Any international student who works before they have completed all of the steps to employment needed to complete the verification process will not be allowed to work for the rest of semester or for two months, which ever is longer.

Work Hours Limitation

It is important to note that your visa has a stipulation on how many hours you may work each week. This is tracked very closely and if violations occur, it will result in no longer being able to work under the program and possible violations to your immigration status.

Typically, international students are limited to working no more than 20 hours per week (Sunday through Saturday) during academic periods and 40 hours during breaks. “Breaks” are defined as periods when school is not in session. In order to qualify as a break, there must be no scheduled classes or exams in that Sunday through Saturday period. Fall and Thanksgiving breaks do not count as periods when school is not in session.

The limitation on hours per week is in total across all jobs held by the student employee.

Resident Assistants

Note that resident assistants are compensated for 15 hours of work per week through the entire academic year, and this must be counted toward the hours per week that an international student is allowed to work, including during any breaks. If accepting an “extra duty shift” as an RA during a break, that adds an additional 4 hours of work to the total hours worked that week.

Other Considerations

Residents for Tax Purposes

International students who are in the US on an F-1 or J-1 visa do not pay FICA taxes during their first 5 calendar years in the US.  FICA taxes are social security, Medicare, old age benefits, etc.  However, starting in their 6th consecutive calendar year in the US international students must pay FICA taxes on their summer employment.  (FICA is not withheld on employment during the school year.)  The most common situation where this occurs is when an international student attended high school in the US and then entered UR directly after their graduation.  The student will mark their 6th calendar year during their time at UR.  Please note that the term “resident for tax purposes” is an IRS term and not an immigration term.  The student’s immigration status does not change simply because the student is in the US for more than five calendar years.

Volunteering

Under no circumstances can an international student volunteer their time on campus.  US Immigration has strict rules regarding volunteering and international students who violate these rules risk cancellation of their visa and deportation and also open the university to penalties and fines.  Any work done on campus must be approved employment.

Subsequent Employment

Once an international student is approved to work on campus, the student is approved to work until the date of graduation (F-1 visa holders) or the last day listed on the visa documentation (for J-1s this is listed on the DS-2019) or when a student withdraws from UR.  A student who obtains an additional job or a new student job does not need to re-verify employment eligibility with OIT.

Minimum GPA

International students whose grades are below a 2.0 GPA will be required to reduce their work hours on campus.