College Question/ Dream Act Student - Page 2

Sounds great, I will ask around if I can use ITIN, I am sure at some point they will accept it as a SS, but either way ill definately apply as both my parents pay taxes & have ITIN. Thanks for the info.

Welcome bro. In my experience, computer sciences/technology internships are usually with some of the big name companies like Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Dell, G.E. Unfortunately, these internships require you to have at least employment authorization. If you're on a F-1 student visa, then you can do internships but make sure you talk to the International Students office at John Jay.

I graduated with a degree in economics/applied math from City College (CCNY) which is CUNY's science/engr. school. CCNY also has a very large concentration of immigrant students, some of whom are undocumented. They needed internships to but since they couldn't work for the big name firms, they did one of two things.

1. They did research with a engr/sci. professor from their major. It was unpaid and completely voluntary but it gave them a lot of experience, which ultimately is the point of an internship.

2. Some of them did independent projects on their own. I know four of them that got together and designed software to optimize inventory systems for small to mid-size companies. Their software was so good that IBM bought licensing rights to the software and is now sponsoring all of them for employment visas to work for IBM. You should consider doing an independent project on your own. I'm sure you can get guidance from your professors.

i'm kinda on the same boat...I'll be leaving to Washington DC in January to start an internship. I'm also an undocumented dreamer and in my past experiences, the internships that are paid or offer stipends will ask for a copy of your ID (US DL or passport) and your SS card. I'm unable to get US ID and my SS card states it's "not valid for employment" so what I plan to do is once I get my internship, i'm going to talk to my internship coordinator before I arrive and let them know that i'm doing the internship for academic credit. Under my program, it's not allowed for student interns to receive any type of monetary compensation, including a stipend. I can't be considered a "part-time employee;" solely a volunteer intern. Of course all of that is not true b/c students in my program can get paid, but that's just the little schpeel that i'm using.

hope that helps. Don't worry about the company offering you a job and you not being able to accept it, I know it sucks, but that's just what we have to deal with. For now, just focus school and finding an internship that will believe your white lie (hey they're the ones benefitting by getting a young, educated, and talented guy like you work for them for free) and will allow you to get the experience you need

good luck