Understanding proposed changes to Optional Practical Training (OPT)

Background on Optional Practical Training and proposed changes

Optional Practical Training (OPT) is a critical pathway that allows international students on F-1 student visas to gain up to 12 months of temporary employment in their field of study after graduation, with an additional 24-month extension available for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates. The OPT/STEM OPT program is used by international graduates of U.S. institutions to work in industry or to pursue postdoctoral research at a university or national lab. Approximately 80% of international physics students use OPT after graduation. The federal government currently charges each OPT applicant a filing fee of around $500.

But on Oct. 8, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a rule change that would impose a $70,000 fee for standard OPT and an additional $30,000 fee for the STEM extension (an aggregate $100,000 per student) to be paid by the applicant’s university. Universities are highly unlikely to have the resources to support OPT applicants under this proposed fee, therefore severely restricting or eliminating international student participation in post-graduate training.

The comment period closed on Nov. 9, 2026. Right now, these new fees are just a proposal. If enacted, we expect legal challenges to be mounted against the rule, which may be successful given the limited legal grounding for the proposal.

Severe restriction of OPT/STEM OPT destroys the primary bridge to future employment-based visas for foreign-born scientists who wish to pursue a career in the United States. The functional loss of OPT/STEM OPT severs a primary talent pipeline that retains top U.S.-trained scientific minds and keeps America innovating.

Read the full, proposed rule

You can read the full rule and DHS justification on the Federal Register.