The Department of Homeland Security proposed rules on Wednesday to charge schools certified under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program a fee for OPT recommendations: an initial fee of $70,000 for each F-1 student, followed by $30,000 for any subsequent recommendations, with a 24-month extension for STEM fields included in the subsequent filings. The rules are not yet in effect.

The fee is incurred before the school issues the recommendation. If the school does not pay, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will not approve the employment authorization. The fee is not tied to a specific employer and is paid to the U.S. Treasury. Both pre-completion OPT during studies and post-completion OPT after graduation are applicable. The current I-765 application fee remains $470 for online applications and $520 for paper applications, and there was previously no fee for school recommendations.

Under current rules, F-1 students can have a maximum of 12 months of OPT for each degree level, with an additional 24-month extension for STEM fields, totaling a maximum of 36 months. If both the initial and extension are fully utilized, the cost to the school for a single student would be $100,000. A department spokesperson referred to OPT as a "backdoor" to the labor market, stating that the fee aims to reduce low-cost labor, facilitate competition for U.S. citizens, and require foreign students to demonstrate their value to employers.

The public comment period is from October 8 to November 9, with an additional 60-day comment period for paperwork reduction provisions. If finalized, the rules will take effect 60 days after publication, applying only to new recommendations and not retroactively to those already authorized. Higher education associations and business groups may sue, which could delay implementation. The department indicated that schools could pass the costs onto students or employers.

This is the second six-figure fee imposed by the same administration on high-skilled labor. A presidential order in September 2025 added a $100,000 fee for certain H-1B entrants, which was extended for another year in September 2026. OPT was originally a 12 to 36-month position for many graduates while waiting for the H-1B lottery, and the new fee raises the barrier for this position to the schools.

The buyers are the schools that must pay the Treasury for each recommendation, while the sellers are the immigration system that issues employment authorizations. This event is driven by the proposed rules, not by enacted bills. Funds will flow from tuition, employer reimbursements, or out-of-pocket payments by students to the Treasury. The beneficiaries are what the department calls domestic job seekers, while the burden falls on schools that rely on OPT commitments for enrollment, employers dependent on recent international graduates, and F-1 students who consider graduate work visas as part of their path to stay in the U.S.

The $70,000 applies to the first 12 months, and the additional $30,000 applies to subsequent recommendations. Existing applications will still follow the old fee structure until the comment period ends.

Source: Public Information