On October 8, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a rule that would attach a fee to the work authorization for international students known as Optional Practical Training (OPT)
After they graduate, international students can usually work for one year in their field of study. This work authorization is called OPT. A student who has attended a college or graduate school as a regular student for at least one academic year can apply without having a job lined up. Most graduating international students have received it, and it has been taken for granted. A recommendation from the school must come first, but for a student who meets the requirements, it is a procedure the school has always carried out. DHS, the part of the U.S. government in charge of immigration, proposed a rule that would put a fee on this recommendation, and published it in the Federal Register (the document in which the government officially publishes rules) on October 8, 2026. The fee is $70,000 for the first recommendation, and $30,000 each time from the second recommendation on. It is still only a proposal, and once it is finalized, who pays and who does not will depend on the date the recommendation was received. Students about to graduate and people now working on OPT should check the dates first.
The school pays, but it can pass the cost on to the student or the employer
"The fee DHS proposed is $70,000 for an international student's first OPT recommendation, and $30,000 each time from the second recommendation on."
Right now, a school makes the recommendation without having to pay anything. The school's international student officer (the designated school official, or DSO) enters the recommendation into the computer system, and then the student files an application for employment authorization (Form I-765) with USCIS, the agency under DHS that reviews immigration applications. If the proposal goes through, the school must first pay the fee to the government before the DSO can enter the recommendation.
Graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) can get a two-year STEM OPT extension when their one year of OPT ends. This extension also requires one more recommendation. So if a student uses all three years, the first recommendation at $70,000 plus the extension recommendation at $30,000 comes to $100,000. The proposal explains that changing employers alone does not trigger a fee.
The party that pays the government must be the school. However, the proposal states that the school may pass this burden on to that international student, to all of its students, or to an employer. It also sets no particular limit on the way it is passed on, as long as no other law is broken. Who ends up paying the $70,000 may differ from school to school.
Paying the fee does not guarantee work authorization. Before the authorization is granted, the school can cancel the recommendation and request a refund, but the government decides whether to return the money, and there is no way to object. After the authorization is granted, there is no refund under any circumstances.
The reasons DHS gave are to prevent fraud involving OPT and to protect American jobs. It stated that with a fee, schools will be more selective about which students to recommend, and the number of students using OPT will also decline. It also wrote that schools are not required to make a recommendation. A recommendation that students received as long as they met the requirements may come to be given selectively, to the students the school picks.
OPT is a process of completing one's studies, in which a student does work directly related to the major and puts what was learned into practice in the field. To view it only as a matter of fraud and jobs shows a lack of understanding of OPT, which is regrettable. Even for an attorney who has long practiced immigration law, it is hard to understand why this is being done.
Recommendations received before the rule takes effect carry no fee; recommendations after it do
"The period during which anyone can submit comments to the government runs until November 9, 2026. After that, once the rule is finalized and published in the Federal Register, it takes effect 60 days after that day."
Even if the rule were finalized the day right after the comment period ends, it would take effect on January 9, 2027. DHS can finalize the rule only after reviewing the comments it receives, so in practice it could be later.
Whether the fee applies depends on the date the school official made the recommendation. If the recommendation date is before the effective date, no fee is paid; if it is on the effective date or later, the fee is paid. The fee also does not apply to OPT that has already been approved or is in progress now.
A student who completes his or her studies in December 2026 can receive the recommendation before graduating, so would not pay even under the proposal. For a student graduating in May 2027, it depends on whether the rule is in effect around the time the recommendation is received. A recommendation cannot be received in advance at any time one likes. Once you receive the recommendation, you must file the application for employment authorization within 30 days, and the application can be filed only from 90 days before the completion of studies, so the recommendation too is received from around that time.
STEM graduates have one more thing to check. Even if the first OPT was started without a fee, if the recommendation needed for the two-year extension is received after the effective date, then under the proposed rule that recommendation carries a fee. The extension recommendation that a person now working on OPT will receive in the future is included in this.
The amount paid in this case could be $70,000, not the $30,000 for an extension recommendation. This is because under the proposed rule, $30,000 applies only to students who have already paid $70,000. A student who started the first OPT without a fee has never paid $70,000. DHS also calculated the amount to be collected on the assumption that, in the first year of implementation, everyone, including extension applicants, would pay $70,000.
However, the proposal also contains one sentence that reads as if students currently working on OPT are excluded from the rule altogether. Because that sentence and the calculation do not match each other, whether the $70,000 is paid or not will be settled when the rule is finalized. If it is settled on the paying side, the only way to avoid the fee is to receive the extension recommendation before the effective date. The extension recommendation can be received only around the time the current authorization ends, so that date should be confirmed with the school.
Majors with only one year of OPT may be at a bigger disadvantage
"According to DHS's count, 194,554 international students worked on OPT in 2024, and 165,524 international students worked on the STEM extension."
The government estimated that this fee would collect between $8.4 billion and $16.5 billion a year. The lower figure assumes that schools pay the fee only for students whose majors qualify for the STEM extension. Calculated per year, $70,000 for one year is far more expensive than $100,000 for three years, so the government took the view that schools would find it hard to pay for students who work for only one year. It is only an assumption, but if it turns out that way, students in majors with only one year of OPT, such as the humanities, the arts, or physical education, will find it harder to obtain a recommendation.
If a school passes the burden on to the employer, an employer that hires a graduate to work on OPT after the rule takes effect would pay $70,000 for that employee's first recommendation alone. Because the government does not refund the fee after work authorization is granted, even if that employee leaves early, this money would be hard to recover.
Parents who pay the tuition may have to recalculate the cost of studying abroad. The proposal states that this fee is similar to the cost of education for one to two years of study in the United States. If the plan was to work a few years after graduation to repay the tuition, this money needs to be added in.
Lawsuits are expected, but you cannot wait for the outcome
"According to USCIS's notice, on June 8, 2026, a federal court in Massachusetts invalidated the government directive that required a $100,000 payment when applying for an H-1B specialty occupation visa. On July 24, the appeals court did not grant the government's request to stay the effect of that decision."
DHS explains that it set the OPT fee at a level similar to this H-1B fee. Because that $100,000 has been blocked in court, many expect that the OPT fee, too, will end up in a lawsuit once it is finalized.
Still, you cannot count on a lawsuit. Even once a lawsuit begins, it takes time to reach a conclusion, and it cannot be known whether the rule will be halted in the meantime. USCIS has stated that it will collect the $100,000 again if the court order is lifted. If you wait for the court and miss the recommendation date, it cannot be undone.
The burden could grow larger during the finalization process. DHS called this fee the first step in revising OPT, and wrote repeatedly that it might shut down OPT altogether if it cannot collect the fee. It is also taking comments on an alternative, put forward together with the proposal, that would collect $70,000 again each time a student's degree level rises, such as once for OPT after a bachelor's degree and again for OPT after a master's degree.
Conclusion
There are three things you can do now. First, a student about to graduate should confirm with the school's DSO the earliest date on which an OPT recommendation can be received. Second, a STEM graduate now working on OPT should write on a calendar the day the extension recommendation can be received. The extension involves documents that the employer must complete together with you, so it is better to tell the employer in advance. Third, once the rule is finalized, ask the school who pays the fee. Students preparing to study abroad and their parents may also want to ask the schools they plan to apply to the same question.
An employment-based green card can be pursued separately from OPT or the H-1B specialty occupation visa. Rather than relying only on two paths whose future is hard to know, it is also a good approach to find a company or organization that will file for your green card and proceed with that first. It usually takes more than two years, so the earlier you start, the better.
Comments can be submitted until November 9, 2026. On the government website regulations.gov, find ICEB-2026-0100 and submit in English. Personal information written in a comment is also made public along with it. Until the rule takes effect, the current OPT and the application procedure remain as they are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. When do I have to start paying the $70,000 OPT fee?
It is still at the proposal stage, so nothing is paid now. The comment period runs until November 9, 2026, and the rule takes effect 60 days after the day it is finalized and published in the Federal Register. Even if it were finalized the day right after the comment period ends, it would take effect on January 9, 2027.
Q. Do people who are working on OPT now have to pay?
The fee does not apply to OPT that is under way now. However, if a STEM graduate receives the recommendation needed for the two-year extension after the effective date, a fee applies to that recommendation. Under the proposed rule, $30,000 applies only to students who have already paid $70,000, so the amount paid at that time could be $70,000.
Q. Does the school pay the $70,000, or does the student?
It is the school that pays the government. However, the proposal states that the school may pass this burden on to that international student, to all of its students, or to an employer. A school is also not required to make a recommendation, so who ends up paying may differ from school to school.
Disclaimer: This column provides general information and is not legal advice for a particular case. Individual immigration matters should be discussed with a qualified immigration attorney.
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