The United States has proposed requiring universities and other certified schools to pay US$70,000 for each foreign student entering a post-graduation work programme, a measure that could sharply raise the cost for thousands of Chinese graduates seeking employment experience in the country.
The Department of Homeland Security announced on Wednesday that the proposed fee would apply to initial participation in Optional Practical Training, or OPT, with a further US$30,000 charge for subsequent participation.
The full proposed rule, released in the Federal Register after DHS announced the measure, also cites concerns involving Chinese students and Beijing as part of the administration’s justification for tightening the programme.
DHS pointed to a 2020 visa-fraud case involving at least 2,693 people, primarily Chinese F-1 students seeking OPT, and noted that one student associated with the operation was later convicted of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government.
The department also cited congressional concerns about Chinese nationals taking part in US science and technology programmes and previous proposals to restrict OPT eligibility for people affiliated with entities owned or controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
Nearly 62,000 Chinese students took part in OPT in the 2024-2025 academic year, according to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report. The programme allows eligible students on F-1 visas to work in jobs directly related to their field of study.
Schools would have to pay before recommending a student for OPT, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services would not grant employment authorisation without payment, DHS said.
Although schools would be responsible for paying the fees, the proposed rule says they could pass the cost to students or employers.
That raises questions about whether institutions would continue recommending students for the programme and how participants would finance the charges.
NAFSA: Association of International Educators criticised the proposal, saying it would deepen uncertainty for international students and undermine the US economy.
“International students don’t take opportunities from Americans, they create them,” said Fanta Aw, the association’s executive director and chief executive.
Aw said OPT allows international students to gain practical experience while helping to fill shortages in high-demand STEM fields and generating jobs for American workers. The association plans to submit detailed comments outlining its concerns about the proposal.
“Optional Practical Training was never meant to be a back door into the American workforce, a subsidy for cheap labour, or a prize for those who game the system,” a DHS spokesperson said in the announcement.
The department said the fees would combat fraud, improve oversight and protect American workers. It cited schemes involving false employment and “pay-to-stay” arrangements that exploit student visa rules.
Michael Clemens, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University and a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, disputed the administration’s argument.
“No research whatsoever supports the government’s claim that this policy will protect American workers,” he said to the South China Morning Post.
Clemens said US-trained, highly skilled foreign workers increase productivity, benefiting American workers across sectors and skill levels. He warned that the proposed charges would sharply restrict access to the principal route international graduates use to remain and work in the country and hurt innovation and entrepreneurship.
“The loss will be hard to see: it will be counted in inventions never made, firms never founded, races against other countries lost,” he said. “It will not be easy to hold accountable the people who caused it. But the loss will nevertheless be colossal.”
Eligible F-1 students can generally receive up to 12 months of OPT at each education level. Graduates in designated science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields may qualify for a further 24-month extension.
The charges remain a proposal. DHS said it would accept public comments from October 8 through November 9 and could revise the rule after reviewing submissions.
The proposed rule would take effect 60 days after publication of a final rule. Existing OPT approvals and school recommendations issued before that date would not trigger the fee, although later requests could be subject to the new charges. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
