You can seek school funding and status-appropriate work now, but whether you can work off campus depends on whether your document says F-1, J-1, or M-1 and on the specific authorization rules.
“I just arrived in the US this Fall as an international student, but my family is facing major financial problems and can no longer support my tuition fees. What are my options to cover my expenses or get work authorization?”
Summary
You have steps you can take now, especially asking about school funding and, if you are F-1, approved campus work. The hard limit is that a new F-1 student generally cannot use the ordinary severe-hardship off-campus permit in the first academic year.
Your immediate options depend on the status shown on your student document; if it is F-1, school assistance and permitted campus work come before the ordinary off-campus hardship permit.
With your ’s approval, you may work at an eligible on-campus job for up to 20 hours a week while school is in session; this route does not require a USCIS . Ask your school’s international-student office about available positions. (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 2, Pt. F, Ch. 6.)
Request institutional scholarships, emergency assistance, assistantships, or a tuition arrangement from your school; availability is school-specific. A transfer to a less expensive SEVP-certified school is another possibility if you obtain admission and follow the transfer process, including contact with the new and registration within 15 days of the new program start date. (Federal Student Aid, Non-U.S. Citizens; DHS, Instructions for Transferring.)
An unexpected change in your family’s ability to support you is expressly listed as a possible severe economic hardship. But ordinary off-campus authorization requires one full academic year in F-1 status, a qualifying recommendation, Form I-765 under category (c)(3)(iii), USCIS approval, and receipt of the before work begins. If this is your first F-1 semester, this is a later route, not permission to work now. (8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(ii); Form I-765 Instructions.)
If a notice covers your nationality and your U.S.-residence dates, its distinct rules may permit off-campus employment or a modified course load. Your must record eligibility, and off-campus work cannot begin until you receive USCIS authorization. Your country and arrival date are needed to determine whether this route is actually open. (DHS, Special Student Relief.)
If your graduate curriculum requires immediate practical training, a first-year exception may apply; obtain the -endorsed Form I-20 before starting. Separately, an offer from a recognized international organization has its own F-1 employment-authorization procedure, requiring an application to USCIS. Neither is a general authorization to work to pay tuition. (8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(iii), (f)(10)(i); ICE, SEVP guidance, August 24, 2026.)
If your document is Form DS-2019 for a J-1 college or university student, serious, urgent, unforeseen economic circumstances arising after you acquired exchange-visitor status can support employment, subject to your program sponsor’s responsible officer giving written approval before work. The F-1 one-academic-year hardship condition is not the rule for this J-1 route. (22 CFR 62.23(g).)
If you are an M-1 vocational student, the F-1 on-campus and hardship routes do not transfer to your status. M-1 practical-training employment is available only after completion of the course and after USCIS issues an , so it cannot pay this term’s tuition through current work. (8 CFR 214.2(m)(14).)
A loss of tuition support does not itself authorize employment or a reduced course load. (8 CFR 214.2(f)(6)(iii), (f)(9)(ii).)
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Watch out for
Next steps
These steps protect your student status while you look for money you can use legally.
Before changing classes or starting work
Identify your student status and document the shortfall
Read the status on your student document and bring it, your tuition bill, and dated evidence of your family’s changed finances to your school’s international-student office. For F-1 or M-1, speak with the ; for a J-1 college student, seek the program sponsor’s responsible officer. Keep your required enrollment while seeking the appropriate approval. (8 CFR 214.2(f)(6)(iii); 22 CFR 62.23(g).)
Requirements
Now
Request school funding and an eligible job
Ask the financial-aid office for institutional scholarships, emergency assistance, assistantships, and any tuition arrangement it offers; no particular award is guaranteed. If you are F-1, request approval for eligible campus work before starting and stay within 20 hours per week while school is in session. If you are a J-1 college student, obtain your responsible officer’s written approval for the specific permitted employment before starting. (Federal Student Aid, Non-U.S. Citizens; USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 2 Pt. F Ch. 6; 22 CFR 62.23(g).)
Requirements
If the school bill remains unaffordable
Assess a transfer or a special exception
For an F-1 transfer, coordinate the transfer with both schools and register and contact the new within 15 days of the start date on the new Form I-20. A covered-country notice, a genuinely required graduate placement, or an offer from a recognized international organization may present a separate route, but each has its own eligibility and approval requirements; do not begin off-campus work merely because one appears possible. (DHS, Instructions for Transferring; DHS, Special Student Relief; 8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(iii), (f)(10)(i).)
Requirements
After the required F-1 academic year
Obtain an F-1 hardship recommendation when eligible
If you are F-1 and still need off-campus work, present the hardship evidence to your and obtain a Form I-20 whose employment page certifies eligibility for severe-economic-hardship employment. Your family’s unexpected financial change is a listed possible hardship, but it does not remove the one-academic-year requirement. (8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(ii); Form I-765 Instructions.)
Requirements
F-1 ordinary hardship route only
Mail Form I-765 and wait for the work permit
Mail the accepted August 21, 2025 Form I-765 edition with the recommended Form I-20 and $520 paper fee to USCIS Attn: I-765 C03, P.O. Box 805373, Chicago, IL 60680-5374, if using U.S. Postal Service mail. USCIS’s separate courier address is USCIS Attn: I-765 C03 (Box 805373), 131 South Dearborn - 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60603-5517. Do not start off-campus work until USCIS approves the request and you receive the . (USCIS, Form I-765 and Direct Filing Addresses; Form G-1055; 8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(ii).)
Requirements
Legal sources
This answer uses USCIS instructions and its Policy Manual, DHS and ICE student guidance, and the F-1, J-1, and M-1 regulations.
USCIS Form I-765, court-order notice
USCIS says the court order stopped implementation of the new fixed-stay rule.
DHS is preliminarily enjoined from taking any further action to implement the final rule, and the effective date of the final rule is postponed pending further order of the court or resolution of the proceeding on the merits.
USCIS Form I-765, court-order notice
The pre-rule student-status regulations remain USCIS’s operating rules during the injunction.
Until such time, USCIS will proceed under the previous regulatory provisions.
USCIS Form I-765, accepted editions
The injunction also determines which I-765 edition USCIS accepts.
Pursuant to the Sept. 14, 2026, order, USCIS continues to accept the 08/28/24 edition of Form I-539 and 08/21/25 edition of Form I-765 and is not accepting the 09/15/26 edition of Forms I-539 and I-765.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(5)(i), pre-rule text
The earlier regulation defines F-1 duration of status around study or authorized practical training.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(5)(i)
Duration of status is defined as the time during which an F-1 student is pursuing a full course of study at an educational institution certified by SEVP for attendance by foreign students, or engaging in authorized practical training following completion of studies, except that an F-1 student who is admitted to attend a public high school is restricted to an aggregate of 12 months of study at any public high school(s).
USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 2 Pt. F Ch. 6
F-1 students can seek DSO-approved campus work during the term.
Chapter 6, On-Campus Employment
F-1 status permits students with Designated School Official (DSO) approval to work at an on-campus job for up to 20 hours per week when school is in session.
USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 2 Pt. F Ch. 6
On-campus F-1 work does not call for a separate USCIS work-permit application.
Chapter 6, On-Campus Employment
F-1 students engaged in on-campus employment are not required to apply for employment authorization with USCIS.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(ii)
The regulation expressly recognizes an unexpected loss of family support as a potential F-1 hardship.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(ii)(C)
These circumstances may include loss of financial aid or on-campus employment without fault on the part of the student, substantial fluctuations in the value of currency or exchange rate, inordinate increases in tuition and/or living costs, unexpected changes in the financial condition of the student's source of support, medical bills, or other substantial and unexpected expenses.
Form I-765 Instructions
The ordinary F-1 severe-hardship application requires a completed academic year in F-1 status.
Eligibility for F-1 Student Seeking Off-Campus Employment Due to Severe Economic Hardship
You have been in F-1 status for one full academic year;
Form I-765 Instructions
The student needs the DSO-completed I-20 with the hardship work application.
F-1 Student Seeking Off-Campus Employment Due to Severe Economic Hardship
File Form I-765 with a copy of the Form I-20 that includes the employment page completed by the DSO certifying eligibility for off-campus employment due to severe economic hardship caused by unforeseen circumstances beyond your control.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(ii)
An F-1 student must actually receive the off-campus EAD before beginning that employment.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(ii)(D)
A student has permission to engage in off-campus employment only if the student receives the EAD endorsed to that effect.
USCIS Form G-1055 Fee Schedule
The published paper filing charge is $520 for the relevant I-765 filing.
Form I-765
Paper Filing: $520 Online Filing: $470
USCIS Form I-765 Direct Filing Addresses
USCIS lists the Chicago lockbox postal destination for the F-1 hardship I-765.
F-1 Students Seeking Employment Due to Severe Economic Hardship
USCIS Attn: I-765 C03 P.O. Box 805373 Chicago, IL 60680-5374
Federal Student Aid, Non-U.S. Citizens
Ineligibility for federal student aid does not rule out every scholarship or school-based form of assistance.
Non-U.S. Citizens
Even if you’re neither a citizen nor an eligible noncitizen, there may be some scholarships and other aid you can get.
DHS, Instructions for Transferring to Another School
The receiving F-1 student must promptly register and contact the new DSO.
Instructions for Transferring
To maintain your status, register for classes and contact your new DSO within 15 days of the program start date listed on your new Form I-20.
DHS, Special Student Relief
Country-specific student relief requires residence by the dates in that country's notice.
Eligibility
Have lawfully resided in the United States for the dates indicated in the FR notice.
DHS, Special Student Relief
A covered F-1 student still must receive authorization before working off campus.
Employment Authorization
You must first file a Form I-765, “Application for Employment Authorization,” with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and receive authorization before you can begin off-campus employment.
22 CFR 62.23(g)
J-1 college students have a separate unforeseen-economic-circumstances route.
62.23(g)(1)(iii)
The exchange visitor student is experiencing serious, urgent, and unforeseen economic circumstances which have arisen since acquiring exchange visitor status.
8 CFR 214.2(m)(14)
M-1 practical training cannot be used as an ordinary job during the course.
8 CFR 214.2(m)(14)
Temporary employment for practical training may be authorized only after completion of the student's course of study.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(i)
The first-year CPT exception is limited to graduate study requiring immediate participation.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(i)
An exception to the one academic year requirement is provided for students enrolled in graduate studies that require immediate participation in curricular practical training.
ICE, SEVP CPT Guidance
ICE explains that the immediate-training requirement belongs to the program, not just an individual student's desire to work.
This means that all students — foreign and American — are required to participate in practical training if they are enrolled in an established curriculum where practical training is integral.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(iii)
A genuine offer from a recognized international organization has its own F-1 work-permit route.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(iii)
A bona fide F-1 student who has been offered employment by a recognized international organization within the meaning of the International Organization Immunities Act (59 Stat. 669) must apply for employment authorization with USCIS.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(6)(iii)
An F-1 student cannot independently reduce enrollment to deal with a bill.
8 CFR 214.2(f)(6)(iii)
A student who drops below a full course of study without the prior approval of the DSO will be considered out of status.
These are official rules as published or displayed on the cited dates; a court order or agency rule can change them.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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