Photo: Collected
The Trump administration wants to increase many times over the fee for work authorisation or on-the-job training for international students in the United States during or after their studies. Under a new proposal published online by the country’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a fee of at least 70,000 US dollars will have to be paid for foreign students to get employment opportunities. This tough decision has been taken as part of the Trump administration’s overall strict scrutiny of and clampdown on foreign visa holders.
A review of the new rule mentioned in the notice shows that a certified or approved institution will have to pay 70,000 US dollars at the initial stage for the practical work training known as Optional Practical Training, or OPT, of F-1 visa holders, that is, non-immigrant foreign students. It does not end there; if any additional work training is needed later, students will have to pay another 30,000 US dollars.
Arguing in favour of this unprecedented fee increase, the Department of Homeland Security said the new step is intended to prevent fraud, strengthen the integrity and balance of the overall immigration system and protect the interests of America’s local workers. The agency made clear that DHS is setting this hefty new fee to ensure that the employers, students and educational institutions concerned are properly complying with the terms and rules under which F-1 non-immigrant visa holders were permitted to enter the United States, and that they are engaged in appropriate activities.
Under the current rules, within the OPT framework foreign students could take on-the-job training or work training for a maximum of 20 hours a week while the university or academic year was in session. They also had the opportunity to work in the United States for a specified period after completing their studies. Students of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, subjects also received special additional benefits in this regard. For this opportunity and permission, an international student currently has to pay only around 500 dollars. On that basis, the rate of fee increase in the new proposal exceeds several hundred times.
