The administration of United States (U.S) President Donald Trump is considering a policy that would levy a $100K fee on foreign students seeking to work in the U.S after graduating from American universities.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal, the proposed fee would target the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program—a critical pathway that allows international graduates on F-1 visas to gain 1 to 3 years of work experience in their field of study.
While the proposal to slam a $100K fee on foreign students seeking to work in the U.S after graduation remains in internal discussions at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), news of the potential multi-thousand-dollar fee has sent shockwaves across higher education institutions, corporate tech recruiters, and over 400,000 foreign workers currently utilizing the program.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the OPT programme allows foreign graduates to work for one to three years on their student visas in areas directly related to their studies.
Roughly 4,19,000 foreigners were working on OPT in 2024, the latest year for which data are available.
Tech companies, which conduct most of the recruitments from U.S universities, opposed the USD 1,00,000 fee on H1-B visas.
A DHS spokeswoman said in a statement: “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 addition to the H-1B and student visas, officials at the State Department are also weighing attaching a USD 1,00,000 bond on applicants for green cards outside the US, redeemable only after they move to the US and become citizens.
The OPT program is one of the primary attractions for international students choosing to study in the US.
Without OPT, most international students would be forced to leave the US immediately after graduation, taking the skills they gained at American universities to foreign markets.
This move comes amidst a series of aggressive immigration policy shifts aimed at curbing non-immigrant work categories:
- H-1B Fee Proclamations: The administration previously sought to impose a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications. That rule faced swift legal challenges from business associations and was recently blocked by a federal court of appeals.
- Student Visa Term Limits: DHS recently announced plans to end long-standing “duration of status” rules for F-1 visas, capping initial international student stays at four years without explicit extensions.
- Green Card Financial Bonds: Reports indicate State Department discussions surrounding $100,000 financial bonds on overseas Green Card petitions.
