The U.S. is planning to impose a $1,00,000 fee on visas issued to international students for working in the U.S. after graduation from an American university, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Homeland Security is mulling the high fee on Optional Practical Training (OPT) visas, which are an extension of F-1 visas issued to students.

The OPT programme allows foreign graduates to work for one to three years on their student visas in areas directly related to their studies.

Roughly 4,19,000 foreigners were working on OPT in 2024, the latest year for which data are available.

Tech companies, which conduct most of the recruitments from U.S. universities, opposed the $1,00,000 fee on H1-B visas.

A DHS spokeswoman said in a statement: “No policies should be considered final until formally announced. At DHS, we are always having conversations about how to use all the tools in our arsenal to protect the integrity of our legal immigration system.

In addition to the H-1B and student visas, officials at the State Department are also weighing attaching a $1,00,000 bond on applicants for green cards outside the U.S., redeemable only after they move to the U.S. and become citizens.

The OPT program is one of the primary attractions for international students choosing to study in the U.S..

Without OPT, most international students would be forced to leave the U.S. immediately after graduation, taking the skills they gained at American universities to foreign markets.

Source: The Wall Street Journal/The Hindu