Immigration · Thursday, October 8, 2026
Homeland Security proposes a $70,000 fee before foreign graduates can work under a student training program
The File desk · Oct 8, 2026, 10:52 AM UTC
Status
Confirmed as a proposal, not a final rule. The Department of Homeland Security posted the announcement Oct. 7, 2026. The Federal Register notice, 91 FR 64566, document 2026-20660, was published Oct. 8. Comments must be received on or before Nov. 9, 2026.
- Confirmed
The proposed rule would set a $70,000 fee per student for the first period of Optional Practical Training and $30,000 for any later period. Schools would pay it.
- Confirmed
The Federal Register notice says comments must be received on or before November 9, 2026. Comments on the paperwork section are due December 7, 2026.
Foreign graduates of American schools can often stay and work in their field for a year or more under Optional Practical Training, the program that lets F-1 students work in the subject they studied. The Department of Homeland Security now proposes charging $70,000 per student for the first stretch of that work permission, and $30,000 for each later one. Schools, not students, would pay before they recommend a student. Without the fee, immigration officials would not grant the work permit. It is a proposal. The public can comment, and the department can change it before anything becomes final.
The proposed rule is titled Legal instrument A proposed rule, 91 FR 64566, that would make schools pay $70,000 per foreign student before recommending the student’s first Optional Practical Training work period, and $30,000 for each later one. It is not final. Comments must be received on or before November 9, 2026. Comments on the paperwork section are due December 7, 2026.Optional Practical Training Fees
Homeland Security says the fee would fight fraud and protect American workers. It cites schemes found by its student-visa office, including problematic worksites and “pay-to-stay” visa schemes. A department spokesperson called the program a pipeline for cheap foreign labor. That is the department's view.
As the department describes the program now, a student can get up to 12 months of this work permission per degree level, plus a possible 24-month extension for a degree in science, technology, engineering, or math.
The Federal Register notice says comments must be received on or before November 9, 2026. Comments on the information collection in the paperwork section are due December 7, 2026. That December date is only the paperwork comment date. The comment deadline for the proposed fee is Nov. 9.
How many students the fee would cover, and the department's cost and revenue estimates, were not in the pages this desk used. Schools and employers had not been asked for a response in the sources opened here.
What is still unknown or disputed
- How many students the fee would cover.
- The department's cost and revenue estimates. They were not in the pages used here.
- What schools and employers say. Their reactions were not fetched.
- Whether anyone will sue if a final rule is issued.
Primary sources
Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.
Source 1
DHS Proposes Fees for Foreign Student Work Program to Protect American Jobs
U.S. Department of Homeland Security · October 7, 2026
The proposed rule would establish a $70,000 fee per F-1 nonimmigrant student for initial OPT and a $30,000 fee per F-1 nonimmigrant student for any subsequent OPT.
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/10/07/dhs-proposes-fees-foreign-student-work-program-protect-american-jobs
Source 2
Optional Practical Training Fees
Federal Register · October 8, 2026
Comments must be received on or before November 9, 2026. Information collection comment period: Comments on the information collection described in the Paperwork Reduction Act section below must be received by December 7, 2026.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/08/2026-20660/optional-practical-training-fees