How to Hire Candidates

You may contact and hire candidates directly. Candidates work full-time for up to 2 years under University employment authorization.

Once a student receives an offer, they will send it to Career Services and this will initiate the hiring process. Your company will receive a Coop Agreement to sign for CPT and that is the only action needed from the company.

The offer letter should include:

• Job title, work description, start date, term of employment, location, and salary.
• Address, fax number, and phone number of headquarters of employer.
• If different, the address that the employee will be working at (or name of client company, city, state).
• Other information employer wants to include such as benefits, etc.
• Name, phone number, email address of person who would monitor performance of employee.

Candidates can provide the following as proof of employment eligibility:

• Passport (unexpired).
• Form I-94 (showing entry into the U.S.).
• We provide the DHS work authorization from the SEVIS database: Form I-20 (page 2). If needed, you may make your offer letter contingent on receiving the I-20, page 2 work authorization.
• For I-9 purposes, the above three documents are required. See: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/742-f-1-and-m-1-nonimmigrant-students

Candidates cannot work corp to corp or 1099; only as W-2 employees.

FICA Tax Exemption (Social Security and Medicare)

F-1 visa holders are exempt from FICA taxes. Supporting documentation can be found in IRS Publication # 519, Chapter 8. Click here for more info.

From IRS Publication:

Section on Students and Exchange Visitors- Nonresident Alien Students

"Students in 'F-1' status may be permitted to participate in a curricular practical training program that is an integral part of an established curriculum. Curricular practical training includes work/study programs, internships, and cooperative education programs. In this case, the educational institution endorses the Form I-20. Social security and Medicare taxes are not withheld from pay for this work unless the student is considered a resident alien."

Second IRS site titled Alien Liability for Social Security and Medicare Taxes

Under section Nonresident aliens, bullet point F-visas, are these sub-bullet points about students temporarily in the U.S. who are exempt on wages paid to them for services performed within the U.S.

• Off-campus student employment allowed by USCIS.
• Practical Training student employment on or off campus.