$70,000 fee planned for F-1 students applying for Optional Practical Training

The Trump administration is planning to require a $70,000 fee the first time a foreign student is recommended for the F-1 visa Optional Practical Training (OPT) program.

That fee would apply to the first 12 months of training. An additional $30,000 fee would be required each time students extend their work authorization under the OPT program.

The Department of Homeland Security previewed the fees in a proposal that will be formally published tomorrow in the Federal Register.

Although the colleges and universities that the students attend would be responsible for paying the fee, the proposed rule explicitly would allow schools to recoup the costs of the fee from the student or their employer. DHS estimates that these fee transfers could add up to as much as $169 billion over the next 10 years.

It also is likely to affect employers by shrinking the pool of available labor, particularly for high-demand science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs. The DHS estimates that about 289,000 students participated in OPT in 2024.

“Optional Practical Training was never meant to be a back door into the American workforce, a subsidy for cheap labor, or a prize for those who game the system,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “DHS is upskilling OPT to require foreign students to justify their worth to employers. American workers should not have to compete against a program that has been turned into a pipeline for cheap foreign labor.”

Employers have 30 days to comment on the proposed rule under docket number ICEB-2026-0100. After the comment period closes, the DHS will consider the public feedback and then issue a final rule with an effective date.

The DHS also has proposed an additional fee of $103,265 on all H-1B petitions subject to the annual cap. Both rules are expected to be challenged in the courts.