The two questions that decide your application

Almost every US online application asks the same pair, and they are not the same question:

1. "Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?"

2. "Will you now or in the future require sponsorship for employment visa status?"

A student on F-1 OPT answers yes to the first — OPT is work authorization — and, in most cases, yes to the second, because the authorization expires and an H-1B or other status would be needed to continue.

Answer both honestly. These are screening questions inside the applicant tracking system, and a wrong answer either knocks you out immediately or, worse, unravels at the offer stage when the employer completes Form I-9 and discovers the mismatch. An offer withdrawn for a misrepresentation is far more damaging than a rejection.

What goes on the resume itself

Very little. A US resume should not carry your nationality, visa type, passport number, photograph, or date of birth — all of that falls into the category of information US employers deliberately avoid, for the anti-discrimination reasons covered in how to write a resume in the US.

Two exceptions are worth making:

• If you are already authorized with no sponsorship needed — a citizen, permanent resident, or someone on an EAD tied to a spouse's status or asylum — a short line near your contact details removes a doubt that would otherwise cost you the screen: Authorized to work in the US for any employer; no sponsorship required.
• If you are on OPT or STEM OPT, some candidates add a dated line such as Work authorized through F-1 OPT (valid through 08/2027). This is optional. It is helpful with employers who sponsor and unhelpful with those who do not, so it is a judgment call about the roles you are targeting.

What you should never do is bury the issue and hope. Recruiters ask in the first five minutes of the phone screen.

The student path: CPT, OPT, and STEM OPT

For international students at US universities the sequence is well established:

• CPT (Curricular Practical Training) allows work that is an integral part of your program — typically an internship for credit — while you are still studying.
• OPT (Optional Practical Training) gives 12 months of work authorization in your field, usually taken after graduation.
• STEM OPT adds a 24-month extension for qualifying STEM degrees, provided your employer is enrolled in E-Verify. That is a total of three years of work authorization, which matters because it gives you multiple chances at the H-1B lottery rather than one.
• Cap-gap extends F-1 status and work authorization for students selected in the lottery whose OPT would otherwise end before the H-1B start date. Relying on cap-gap alone is riskier than securing the STEM extension.

Your Designated School Official is the authoritative source for your own timeline. Start the conversation early; OPT applications have processing times that do not bend for job offers.

H-1B: what changed in 2026

The H-1B cap has not changed: 65,000 visas in the regular cap, plus 20,000 reserved for holders of a US master's degree or higher. Employers register candidates electronically each March for an October start.

What did change is how selection works. DHS finalized the Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking to File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions, published in the Federal Register on December 29, 2025 and effective February 27, 2026. Instead of a purely random draw, registrations are now weighted by the offered wage level:

• A Level 4 wage offer is entered into the pool four times
• Level 3, three times
• Level 2, twice
• Level 1, once

Entry-level candidates can still be selected; they are simply drawn against better odds for higher-paid offers. The March 2026 lottery, for fiscal year 2027, was the first run under the new system.

For a job seeker this has a practical consequence: the wage level attached to your offer is now part of your immigration odds. A higher-paying role, a more senior title, or a higher-wage metro area materially improves your chance of selection. It is worth discussing the wage level explicitly with an employer that intends to sponsor you.

One further note, because it is widely misunderstood: a September 2025 presidential proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee on certain new H-1B entries has been in litigation throughout 2026. A federal district court in Massachusetts vacated it in June 2026, and the First Circuit declined to stay that ruling in July 2026, so it was not enforceable as of late September 2026 — with further appeals pending. Treat anything you read about this fee as time-sensitive and confirm the current position with an immigration attorney.

Cap-exempt employers are a real alternative

Universities and their affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations are exempt from the H-1B cap. They can file a petition at any time of year with no lottery at all. If your field has an academic, hospital, or research-institute employer base, this route deserves as much attention as the lottery.

Talking about it in the interview

When a recruiter raises it, be brief, factual, and forward-looking: I'm authorized to work through OPT until August 2027, with a STEM extension available, and I'd need sponsorship after that. One sentence, no apology. Employers who sponsor are used to the conversation; employers who do not will say so, and you have both saved time.

Get the rest of the screening call right with our guide to US interview questions, and build a clean, ATS-safe resume for free on Monta meu currículo?.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I put my visa status on my US resume?

Generally no. Leave nationality, visa type, and passport details off. The exception is a short line stating you need no sponsorship if that is true, or an optional dated line noting OPT authorization.

How do I answer the sponsorship question if I am on OPT?

Answer "yes" to being legally authorized to work now, and "yes" to needing sponsorship in the future, since OPT expires. Answering otherwise creates a mismatch at the Form I-9 stage.

How does the 2026 H-1B wage-weighted lottery work?

Effective February 27, 2026, registrations are entered into the selection pool according to the offered wage level: four entries for Level 4, three for Level 3, two for Level 2, and one for Level 1. Higher-paid offers therefore have better odds.

Which US employers are exempt from the H-1B cap?

Universities and their affiliated nonprofit entities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations. They can petition at any time without entering the lottery.