International students face multiple challenges when trying to work in the United States

When senior international student Patty Laya landed an internship in New York City last summer with news site Business Insider, she was excited.

But days before she was set to begin, when she still hadn’t received approval to work from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, she got worried.

“Apparently, last year (the approval process) was taking a longer time than it usually did,” Laya, who is originally from Venezuela, said. “I was getting more and more stressed out because the day of my summer internship was approaching, and I still hadn’t gotten my permit.”

When Laya finally received approval to work about a week before her internship start date, she said she was relieved.

“It would have been so embarrassing to tell Business Insider, you know, I can’t work because I don’t have my permit after they chose me.”

Laya is not the only international student caught in limbo when it comes to getting permits for internships. International students are required to jump through certain legal hoops to qualify for work in the United States. In fall 2011, 448 international students were enrolled in undergraduate programs at UNC.

If international students seek any sort of off-campus employment not required for a class, including internships, they must seek prior approval from Homeland Security for the right to work.

“The timeliness is a problem, particularly for those students who want to do a summer internship program and may not get the offer in place in time to apply 90 to 120 days in advance,” said Elizabeth Barnum, director of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services.

The office assists students with the visa process and work eligibility, which has become more complicated with national security concerns in the years following 9/11.

Several news outlets reported that one of the 9/11 hijackers used a student visa to gain entry into the United States.

In March, Chancellor Holden Thorp was named to a new Academic Advisory Council in the Department of Homeland Security. He said in a March interview that he will stress the importance of international students’ open access to campus.

While the Department of Homeland Security is legally required to follow a 90-day approval process for students requesting to do an internship, it often takes longer, Barnum said.

“One of the most painful things for an international student adviser is to have a student with an ideal opportunity that would be so beneficial to them and to know that there’s slim to no chance of them getting employment authorization in time,” she said.

Senior Mark Laichena, a British international student who interned with global consulting firm McKinsey & Co. in Washington, D.C. last year, said bureaucratic red tape can make securing an internship difficult.

“If you’re doing an internship (related) to your department, you get one type of authorization, and if you’re not doing work through your major or field, you have to go though a different type of authorization,” Laichena said.

Laichena, who is also a columnist for The Daily Tar Heel, added that the variety of visas available can also complicate matters.

Senior U.K. native Joel Semakula said the process could be smoother.

“Like everybody, I wish we could get authorization much quicker, and I wish it was just a little bit clearer,” Semakula said.

But some UNC administrators said they don’t expect to see a change in policy for international students anytime soon.

“A lot of it depends on the political climate, the economy, the perception about whether or not students might be taking employment opportunities away from Americans, and what’s going on in Washington at the time,” Barnum said.

UNC’s Chief International Officer and head of UNC Global Ron Strauss said he believes a fundamental change to make Homeland Security procedures more international student-friendly is necessary, but that many are still caught up in the post-9/11 world.

“Oh my God, there are so many parts of it that need to be fixed,” Strauss said. “The system is not constructed to facilitate international students and scholars coming here.”

“It’s a system that has been established to make it more complicated and difficult for them, and this is only one of many, many regulations that are having that impact.”

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.