Harvard Law Ends Work Authorization for International Students’ Externships After New Federal Guidance

International J.D. students at Harvard Law School will no longer receive school authorization to participate in externship clinics this academic year, after new guidance narrowed when universities can approve off-campus work.

In two messages to schools in August, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program said Curricular Practical Training — a temporary work authorization, granted by schools, that allows international students to gain off-campus professional experience — may be authorized only if the training is required of all students in the degree program.

HLS’s graduate requirements include six credits of “experiential learning courses,” which includes externship clinics. But students also have the option to fulfill the requirement through in-house clinics and seminars — meaning externships are not required of every student and no longer qualify for CPT.

The change bars limit international J.D. students from all of the Law School’s 13 externship clinics, which pair a course component with placements at government agencies, companies, and non-profit organizations. Previously, international students were barred only from some externships, such as government placements that require U.S. citizenship.

Under CPT, international students could participate in one semester of an externship, but could not extend their placement. Returning to the same clinic would have been classified as an “advanced clinical,” which the authorization did not permit.

Students in the L.L.M. programs are unaffected by the guidance. They were always barred from externships because they are ineligible for CPT authorization, which requires a full academic year of enrollment.

Associate Dean for Academic Programs Meredith Boak wrote in a statement that the Law School “is committed to helping students navigate the federal guidance.”

“We reached out earlier this month to all F-1 students and have been working directly with students already enrolled in externship clinics to help them understand their options,” Boak wrote. “Students who are unable to pursue an externship are being offered individualized advising to identify an alternative path aligned with their goals.”

Boak also pointed students to the Law School’s in-house clinical program, which has 25 offerings.

Affected J.D. students may still apply for pre-completion Optional Practical Training, a federally granted work authorization for up to 12 months for degree-related work that students typically use after graduation.

But using OPT for an externship would cut into the time international students have to gain work experience in the U.S. after they graduate.

“I would assume that most students would not want to use their optional practical training in this context,” University of Oklahoma immigration law professor Kit F. Johnson said. “They usually want to use it for post graduation because then it helps buy them time and buys their employer time to get them a different visa.”

HLS Student Government co-president Tenzin Yonten, a second-year international student from India who had been considering an externship, said the student government hopes to compile information from the Harvard International Office along with public-interest and big law advising resources.

“I feel being an international student in this day and age is to be ready for surprises,” Yonten said.

Michael L. Poirier, a Canadian who graduated from HLS in 2025, completed an externship with the Atlantic Hawks through the Sports Law Clinic. He said his decision to attend HLS was influenced by the school’s sports law network and his desire to work in the NBA.

“It seems like cruelty for cruelty’s sake,” Poirier said. “You’re just removing those opportunities from the people who are the most interested in them, the people who are most likely to provide the most value to those opportunities versus people who, maybe they’re American-born, but maybe doing an NBA internship is more of a hobby for them.”

“If I were told at the time that the NBA was completely off the table, I never would have come to the United States,” he added. “There would have been no incentive for me to do so. I would have just much preferred to stay among family and friends and have a successful legal career in Canada.”

Sabri Siraj, a 2021 HLS graduate who completed a Sports Law Clinic externship with the New England Patriots, said he hoped the change would not “discourage” international students “from pursuing experiential learning.”

“Harvard is a very powerful brand and a very powerful name, and I think just leveraging your network and connections, both on campus and off campus, and diversifying your options is the way to go,” Siraj said. “Be proactive and look for other ways to get that same kind of hands-on experience.”

Yonten expressed hope that the change will not be permanent.

“This hopefully isn’t a new future for us in the sense of this is the way it’s going to be for the rest of us international students,” Yonten said. “I think there’s a lot of potential for things to change, revert back even. The problem is more what’s happened in time for us as students in the law school system.”

—Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham.