US wants to impose a $100,000 fee on OPT

During the presidential campaign before the 2024 election, Donald Trump said he would staple a Green Card to the diplomas so that foreign students could stay in the US and work after finishing their education. It has been a long way since that time, and now that the administration is proposing a $100K fee for Optional Practical Training, the distance between what Trump had promised and what his administration is doing or planning to do has never been greater. “What I want to do, and what I will do, is — you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” Trump had said during an interview with “The All-In Podcast" in June 2024. Experts said if the administration imposes a $100K fee on OPT, foreign students will not choose US schools and universities. "The ability to work for a year after graduation is a major reason students pick US schools. It allows them to get real US work experience that will look good on their resume wherever they end up building their career," attorney Adrian Pandev said. "F-1 OPT is also the only immigration status in which a young entrepreneur can launch a company in their field of study without having to invest significant capital or meet other difficult requirements. It gives a student 1 year to build something truly meaningful. I have seen so many great companies start this way. We sure have come a long way from 'green cards stapled to diplomas'..." Pandev said.

What is OPT? Why is this a new target of the Donald Trump administration?

OPT is the Optional Practical Training program, which allows international students on an F-1 visa to work legally in their field of study. After their degree, they can stay in the US legally and work for 12 months under this program. This program does not have a fee to pay to the government as of now. But recently, several Republican leaders raised alarms over how the OPT became a pipeline for the H-1B. Companies hire OPT students as trainees and then file for their H-1B visa, shutting Americans out of this exclusive process teeming with foreigners. The Donald Trump administration earlier imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, but it was stayed by a court order. Now the administration is planning to bring the $100K fee to OPT programs. The administration has already imposed a four-year validity to F-1 visas afte which the students have to file for a renewal, extension.