Hey WSO! I am an international student interested in Healthcare IB and have yet to declare my major. Does anybody know if a Biology/Chemistry/Biochemistry major would make eligible for a STEM OPT extension if I were to join a Healthcare group within IBD? Thanks all in advance!
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Your eligibility for STEM OPT solely depends on whether your college major qualifies for it and has nothing to do with what job you take. Check with your school to see if those majors are eligible – I would 99% guess they are.
The current requirement for STEM OPT is for the job to be "directly related to your field of study" - which would be Bio/Chem in my case. So when I fill out all of the forms, I'll have to prove that my job as a Healthcare IB Analyst is directly related to my degree - and I am wondering if I can claim that it is.
I stand corrected – was not at all aware of this requirement (never had it come up for me). Will defer to someone else in this case.
You won't get a definite answer here or anywhere. No one can or will ever be sure what the immigrations office will say. It will all depend on how well you describe your job to the USCIS/DHS office and how their officers perceive/decide.
Making healthcare banking sound like it's directly related to your major biology could be a challenge. I've seen many industrial engineering and computer science majors get dinged for their STEM OPT for technology banking jobs at BB in both NY and SF. They had to pack and leave after year 1. I have seen however folks with management science degrees get qualified for their industrials IBD jobs as well as management consulting jobs. So maybe pursuing a dual major/masters STEM degree that is more business-related could be helpful if that's a possibility for you.
Always keep in mind that there's a huge uncertainty when it comes to anything immigration-related, and that it is unavoidable. So plan for other options way ahead of time. Discuss with your team to apply for H1B ASAP. Build relationships with headhunters in your home country from day 1. Don't sign(or renew) a lease or make any long term financial commitment in the U.S. before you get your OPT extended. And never listen to anyone who tells you, especially your school's international students office, that you could easily get the STEM OPT extension.
The following STEM majors were not approved for the roles of...:
- software engineering within our AI team within PE (a quant)
- data analytics major in combination with math/statistics for our equity research team
- electrical engineering for a tech startup we financed
they all got only 12 months of OPT.
Hey I’m an industrial engineering major and I’ll be joining a tech group at a BB FT in 2021. Your reply got me a little nervous mind if I pm you?
Sure.
Hi! I'm a cs major joining a tech banking group. Wondering if it worked out for you?
The only certain answer for you is if you go to AILA (immigration lawyer search) and look up the best lawyer nearby. call him/her and ask this question or email.
There are various lists of jobs/professions that qualify, but we can't really be sure unless you talk to a professional. The other option is to contact USCIS directly and ask them for a list of jobs.
edit:
The ONLY list of jobs I have seen is here:
https://www.onetonline.org/find/stem?t=0
IBD jobs are not STEM.
This is inaccurate. Every job is eligible for STEM OPT as long as you can demonstrate that what you learned in your STEM major is directly applicable to your job. So getting the STEM extension is a case-by-case problem. For instance, if you did a STEM Stats major in undergrad, you can demonstrate how applicable it is to IBD (you’ll have to sell it a bit, though). If you work in S&T or a Hedge Fund and are an Econometrics major, then you can very easily demonstrate how your major helps you in your job
like I said, my information is not official nor did I say it is accurate. the list is from the Department Of Labor.
Hence why I asked OP to ask a lawyer or USCIS.
My firm tried to sponsor STEM within our AI team and it was never approved by anyone as a STEM job. You are absolutely right that this has to be done on a case-by-case basis.
Just to add to OPs question, quote from the gov:
Unless rules changed recently/over the course of Trump presidency, yes. All my banking buddies who majored in STEM got their STEM OPTs. All banks will have immigration lawyers working on your behalf. I’d advise you to retain a personal lawyer on the side just to start building a relationship since you are going to need one for H1B (which banks will have lawyers for also), green card, citizenship, etc.
And just adding a couple more thoughts:
1) Some banks no longer sponsor H1B/hire internationals. Many don’t say this outright so ask around (I think there have been some forum topics)
2) If your interest lies in pharma/biotech world of healthcare IB, I think some sort of biology background is helpful in general (otherwise you won’t understand shit). Not a requirement obviously since healthcare services / healthcare IT and to some extent large cap pharma are more business oriented
Do you need a personal lawyer if your company is sponsoring your H1B and green card?
I would be very careful in thinking that all STEM majors can get their OPT extensions approved for investment banking roles. I used to work in tech group at a BB (now FSG). Over the years I have personally seen many colleagues and friends from my class with STEM degrees (computer science, management science, engineering, you name it) get their OPT extensions denied and leave after their first year.
And no, I don't know or have heard of anyone who got a lawyer to apply for the OPT extension. H1-B application? Definitely. But for OPT extensions, no. You normally write-up your own OPT extension form, get your manager(VP/D/MD)'s signature on it, and submit it to your alma mater's international office, who will then forward it straight to the USCIS office for review/final approval.
Anyone knows if a Math major works for IBD STEM extension?
OPT extension (uscis Form I-765) is filed by the applicant, not the company. There are (normally) no lawyers involved. Whoever said lawyers will do this must be an exception with a company that has too much money. HR might add a few bits you can submit, but the burden lies with the student and not the employer.
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