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DHS wants schools to pay $70,000 before a student’s first OPT.
On October 7, 2026, DHS released a proposed rule that would charge a school $70,000 the first time it recommends an F-1 student for Optional Practical Training (OPT). Each later OPT recommendation for the same student would cost $30,000. The school would pay before its designated school official (DSO) enters the recommendation in SEVIS. The Federal Register publishes the proposal on October 8, 2026. It is a proposal. No one owes the fee today, and comments run through November 9, 2026.
Today the DSO’s recommendation carries no government fee.
Below: what the proposal says, which of the two fees applies to a given request, and who pays. Then the OPT steps under the proposal, what stays the same, the reasons and figures DHS gives, the clock to a final rule, and what to do now.
The DHS proposal of October 7, 2026.
The document is a proposed rule titled Optional Practical Training Fees, written by ICE, the agency that oversees student visas. A proposed rule is a draft: the public comments on it, and DHS can change it before it publishes a final rule. In plain terms, it would do three things:
- Create the fee. A school would pay $70,000 the first time it recommends a student for any kind of OPT, and $30,000 for each later recommendation. The same text sets the refund rules and the start date.
- Make payment a condition. The DSO and USCIS would each check that the school has paid before the student gets the work permit.
- Keep the existing SEVIS fee separate. The I-901 fee students already pay stays as it is and is renamed so that the two fees are not confused.
The money would go to the US Treasury. DHS states that ICE cannot keep it, so none of it would fund SEVP or immigration enforcement.
Which OPT fee applies: the $70,000 or the $30,000?
The amount follows the order of a student’s OPT requests after the rule takes effect, not the kind of OPT. DHS writes that the initial $70,000 "would apply to any type of OPT that the student participates in for the first time". The $30,000 applies to any later OPT "regardless of whether it is another pre-completion OPT, post-completion OPT, or STEM OPT extension".
DHS gives its own example. A student recommended for pre-completion OPT and later for post-completion OPT would cost the school $70,000 and then $30,000, even with the same employer. A change of employer on its own triggers nothing, because the fee follows the school’s recommendation rather than the job.
The $100,000 figure reported before publication does not appear as a single fee. It is the total a school would pay for two recommendations, such as post-completion OPT followed by the STEM extension.
DHS also describes an alternative it has not adopted: charging the $70,000 again for the first OPT at each higher degree level. That would mean once after a bachelor’s degree and again after a master’s. The proposal asks for comment on that alternative in particular.
The school pays the OPT fee, and the cost could reach students.
The obligation falls on the school whether the student was admitted in F-1 status or changed to it inside the US. It also applies whether an extension of stay came from USCIS or from a new admission after travel. The proposal places no obligation on the student or on a particular employer.
DHS acknowledges that schools "may pass the financial obligation of this proposed fee onto F-1 nonimmigrant students, all students, or employers". The proposal sets no restriction on how a school funds the fee, beyond existing laws such as the reporting of foreign gifts and contracts. It also notes that a DSO is not required to recommend any student for OPT and can decline to pay for one. So the cost a student would see is a school decision, and the proposal leaves that decision open.
OPT fee refunds under the proposal.
A school could ask SEVP for a refund only while the student has not yet received the employment authorization document (EAD) for that OPT period. The DSO would first remove the student’s recommendation in SEVIS. SEVP would decide each request case by case, as a matter of discretion, and its decision would be final with no administrative appeal. Once the EAD has been issued, the fee "will not be refunded under any circumstances". SEVP may publish refund guidance on its Study in the States site.
The OPT steps for a student under the proposal.
The student’s own steps stay the same. The proposal adds a payment by the school before the DSO’s recommendation and a payment check by USCIS at the end.
| Step | Today | Under the proposal |
|---|---|---|
| 1. DSO request | The student asks the DSO to recommend OPT. No fee for the recommendation. | The school must first pay the fee for that student. |
| 2. SEVIS record | The DSO enters the recommendation once the student is eligible. | The DSO enters it only after confirming the payment and recording it in SEVIS. |
| 3. Form I-20 | The signed I-20 shows the recommendation. | The signed I-20 shows the recommendation and the fee payment information. |
| 4. Form I-765 | The student files with USCIS and pays the filing fee. | The same. |
| 5. USCIS decision | USCIS decides on the DSO’s recommendation and the student’s eligibility. | The same, and USCIS may not approve if the school has not paid. |
| 6. EAD | The work permit arrives and work starts. | The same. |
A student who would need an extension of stay for OPT beyond a fixed admission period would still need one, if that postponed rule ever takes effect.
The OPT rules that stay the same today.
Until a final rule is published and takes effect, the current OPT rules apply. Optional Practical Training is temporary employment authorization for an F-1 student in work directly related to the student’s major area of study, before or after the program ends. The rules in force today:
- The student’s USCIS fee. Form I-765 costs $520 on paper or $470 online, and the student pays it. The proposal does not change it.
- The periods. Up to 12 months of OPT per education level, and the 24-month STEM OPT extension for eligible STEM graduates with a Form I-983 training plan.
- The cap-gap. An F-1 student with a timely filed, pending cap-subject H-1B petition keeps status and work authorization up to April 1 of the next fiscal year. The proposal does not amend that paragraph.
- OPT already approved or recommended. A recommendation dated before the effective date carries no fee, and OPT in progress on that date is untouched. A later request after that date would carry the fee.
DHS’s reasons for the OPT fee.
The proposal gives three reasons, and ties the amount to a fourth:
- Fraud. DHS cites an investigation that identified more than 10,000 F-1 students on OPT working for "highly suspect employers", with empty worksites, residential addresses listed as offices and "phantom employees". It writes that a fee would make schools "exercise greater oversight and selectivity" and would curb "visa mill" activity.
- US workers. DHS points to the payroll-tax exemption for F-1 students in their first five calendar years. It says that exemption saves an employer 6.2 percent of salary up to the wage base plus 1.45 percent. It also cites unemployment among recent computer science graduates, and states that OPT has been used "as a pathway for low-paid employment".
- The H-1B cap and fees. DHS writes that the $70,000 "is designed to closely align with the H-1B fees". The aim it states is that students and employers do not use OPT to get around the H-1B cap and the $103,265 petition fee it proposed in August.
- Why a fee rather than more oversight. DHS considered extending STEM OPT’s site visits, training plans and reporting to all OPT and rejected that as slower and heavier on resources. It calls the fee "an immediate first step in a graduated strategy", and writes that without it DHS "may shut down the program entirely".
DHS sets the first fee higher than the second because a student applying for a first work permit "may not have been vetted" since the original visa and admission. It also considered exempting small schools and rejected that, because an exemption would leave most schools outside the rule.
DHS’s own numbers on the OPT fee.
DHS builds its estimates on three years of OPT starts, 2022 to 2024, and gives a low and a high scenario for how many students schools would still recommend. The figures the proposal relies on:
| Figure | DHS’s number |
|---|---|
| OPT starts, 2024 | 194,554 students began OPT and 95,384 began a STEM OPT extension |
| Schools | 2,478 schools recommended at least one student for OPT between 2022 and 2024, out of 6,186 certified to enroll F-1 students |
| Fees per year | $8.4 billion (low scenario) to $16.5 billion (high); DHS’s main estimate is $12.4 billion |
| Fees, ten years | $87 billion to $169 billion before discounting |
| Small schools | 1,389 of the 2,478; DHS estimates 841 of them (60.5 percent) would face a cost above 1 percent of revenue, and 116 (8.4 percent) above 20 percent |
| STEM take-up | About 56 percent of OPT participants went on to a STEM OPT extension, 2021 to 2024 |
| OPT share | About 20 percent of the 1.4 million F-1 students did OPT in 2024 |
The low estimate assumes schools pay only for students who can later take the STEM extension. DHS writes that it "cannot confidently predict" how far participation would fall.
The timeline to a final OPT fee rule.
No date exists for the OPT fee. The dates known so far:
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| October 7, 2026 | DHS releases the proposed rule and announces it. |
| October 8, 2026 | The Federal Register publishes it and the comment period opens. |
| November 9, 2026 | Comments on the rule close, per the DHS announcement; the published notice states the exact date. |
| December 7, 2026 | The separate 60-day comment period on the information collection closes. |
| After that | DHS reviews the comments, sends a final rule through White House review and publishes it with its own effective date. No deadline governs this step. |
| Effective date | 60 days after the final rule is published. |
The duration-of-status rule for F-1 students took about 12.5 months from proposal to its scheduled effective date. A final OPT fee rule could also be challenged in court. Verify the live status of the rule before relying on any date here.
Next steps for students, schools and employers.
What to do depends on where you stand:
- Students. If a recommendation is coming, its date is what would count under a final rule. Ask the DSO how the school plans to handle the fee if the rule is finalized.
- Schools. The proposal puts the payment on the institution. Budget for both scenarios, and consider a comment with enrollment and OPT figures, which DHS asks for.
- Employers. OPT and STEM OPT hiring continues under the current rules, including the Form I-983 training plan. Map when current OPT employees would need a STEM extension, because that request would be a new recommendation.
- Anyone who wants to comment. File at regulations.gov before the period closes. DHS writes that the comments that help it most name the part of the rule they address and bring data or authority.
Other rules in motion for F-1 students and H-1B workers.
The OPT fee is one of several proceedings running at the same time, each on its own track. DHS proposed the $103,265 fee on cap-subject H-1B petitions on August 25, 2026, and comments on it closed on September 24. It proposed removing the 60-day grace period after a job ends for H-1B, L-1, O-1, E and TN workers on September 10, with comments open until November 10. The final rule ending duration of status for F-1 students was postponed nationwide by a federal court on September 14, 2026. A decision in one of these proceedings does not decide another.
Common questions
No. The proposal sets two fees, one for a student’s first recommendation and one for each later recommendation. The $100,000 reported before publication appears in the text only as the total a school would pay for two recommendations, such as post-completion OPT followed by the STEM extension. No single $100,000 fee exists in the proposal.
Not in this proposal, which keeps OPT and adds a fee. DHS writes that without the fees it "may shut down the program entirely", and that the fee is "an immediate first step in a graduated strategy". A separate practical-training rule sits on the regulatory agenda for 2027 and has not been published.
No. DHS states that the fee "is not triggered by a change in employer" but by a school’s decision to recommend a student for a period of OPT. A student who changes jobs inside an approved OPT period owes nothing more; a new recommendation for a further period does carry a fee.
Only before the student’s work permit is issued. SEVP may grant a refund case by case if the student has not received the EAD, and the DSO must first remove the recommendation in SEVIS. Once the EAD issues, no refund is possible, and the refund decision is not subject to administrative appeal.
Not under the main proposal, where the initial fee is paid once per student and every later recommendation takes the lower fee. DHS asks for comment on an alternative that would charge the initial fee again for the first OPT at each higher degree level, so a final rule could differ on this point.
Through regulations.gov under docket ICEB-2026-0100, by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 9, 2026, per the DHS announcement. Comments must be in English, cite the part of the rule they address and give reasons, data or authority. Comments on the information collection run for 60 days from publication.
Sources
- Optional Practical Training Fees, proposed rule, FR Doc. 2026-20660 (DHS Docket No. ICEB-2026-0100)Department of Homeland Security · October 8, 2026
Show all 9 sourcesShow fewer sources
- DHS Proposes Fees for Foreign Student Work Program to Protect American JobsDepartment of Homeland Security · October 7, 2026
- Docket ICEB-2026-0100, Optional Practical Training FeesRegulations.gov
- 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10) and (f)(11), optional practical training and the DSO recommendationCornell Legal Information Institute
- 8 CFR 214.13, SEVIS fee for certain F, J, and M nonimmigrantsCornell Legal Information Institute
- 8 CFR 106.2, FeesCornell Legal Information Institute
- Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 StudentsU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Practical Training, RIN 1653-AA97, Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory ActionsOffice of Information and Regulatory Affairs
- Extension of Post-Completion OPT and F-1 Status for Eligible Students under the H-1B Cap-Gap RegulationsU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
2–6 months
$8,000–$12,000
