US mulls $100,000 fee on OPT work permits for foreign graduates

Washington: The United States is considering a $100,000 fee for international students who wish to work in the country after graduating from American universities, a move that could significantly raise the cost of post-study employment and reshape global choices on higher education.

The proposal, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, targets the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme, which allows foreign graduates on F-1 student visas to work for one to three years in jobs directly related to their field of study. OPT has been a key factor drawing international students to the US, with around 419,000 foreign nationals working under the scheme in 2024, according to the latest available data.

The plan comes after a US court struck down an earlier Trump administration attempt to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B work visas. The Department of Homeland Security is now reportedly exploring a similar high fee for OPT, which functions as an extension of the student visa rather than a separate work visa.

A DHS spokesperson said, “No policies should be considered final until formally announced. At DHS we are always having conversations about how to use all tools in our arsenal to protect the integrity of our legal immigration system.”

In parallel, State Department officials are also weighing a $100,000 bond requirement for green card applicants outside the US, redeemable only after they move to the country and become citizens. Without access to OPT, most international students would have to leave the US immediately after graduation, taking skills gained at American universities to other labour markets.

Tech companies, which rely heavily on US university hires, had strongly opposed the earlier $100,000 H-1B fee proposal. Any steep increase in OPT costs is expected to affect Indian students in particular, as they form the largest cohort of international enrolments in the US.

(With PTI Inputs)