Overview
- DHS published the proposed rule in early October that would require SEVP‑certified schools to pay $70,000 for an initial Optional Practical Training (OPT) recommendation and $30,000 for each later recommendation including STEM extensions.
- Under the proposal schools must pay the fee before a designated school official can place an OPT recommendation in SEVIS and USCIS would not grant OPT work authorization for recommendations made after a final rule takes effect unless the fee is paid.
- DHS says the charge is meant to curb OPT fraud and protect U.S. workers and estimates the fees could bring in about $12.4 billion a year.
- Several leading universities including Michigan, Cornell, USC and Washington have publicly opposed the plan and say they will submit comments or consider legal challenges, making the rule’s final outcome uncertain.
- Experts and schools warn the fee could be shifted to students or employers, lower international student enrollment, and shrink the pipeline from OPT into H‑1B hiring while the proposal follows earlier contested DHS immigration rules that federal courts have blocked.