The H-1B and F-1 optional practical training (OPT) programs are the target of increased levies that the Trump administration intends to implement. The Federal Register reported on Monday that a proposed rule to raise the H-1B visa cost to $103,265 was released by the US Department of Homeland Security. The levy was levied last year, but the courts have since stopped it.
According to Fragomen, a corporate immigration services company, if the proposed laws are put into effect, they may increase the cost of working in the US for foreign nationals, students making the move from college to the workforce, and firms sponsoring H-1 workers.
For Indians, who make up over 70% of all H-1B visa recipients, this change is significant. In 2024, 399,402 H-1B petitions were granted by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, with 71% of the beneficiaries being Indian-born.
The White House Office of Management and Budget has already received the ideas, according to a notice from the immigration law firm Fragomen: “A proposed OPT fee rule was provided to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on August 20 and is presently under evaluation. On August 19, OMB received and approved a proposed rule to charge a fee on specific H-1B petitions, according to the memo.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may impose a $100,000 cost on OPT applications, according to Fragomen, and the planned H1-B price may be linked to the current legal dispute over the administration’s previously prohibited $100,000 H-1B petition fee.
The ideas’ contents, however, are still private and will be made public at a later time.
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