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Morning Edition · Friday, July 31, 2026Published at 1:30 AM EDT · New York

US Weighs $100,000 Fee on Foreign Graduates' Work Permits

The Department of Homeland Security is considering the charge on post-graduation work visas as it also shortens the window graduates have to depart.

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US Weighs $100,000 Fee on Foreign Graduates' Work Permits

The Trump administration is considering a fee of 100,000 dollars on the visas that let foreign graduates work in the United States after finishing their studies. Citing The Wall Street Journal, The Hindu reported that the Department of Homeland Security is weighing the charge on Optional Practical Training permits, which extend the F-1 student visa and allow graduates to work in their field.

The proposal is part of a broader tightening. The administration has moved to shorten the time student visa holders have to leave or change status after graduation, from 60 days to 30. The measures also affect exchange visitors and foreign journalists.

The administration has met legal resistance to similar efforts. A court recently struck down a separate 100,000 dollar fee on H-1B skilled-worker visas, classifying the charge as a tax that the president lacked the authority to impose, which raises the question of whether the new fee would survive a challenge.

For India, which sends more students and skilled workers to the United States than any other country, the stakes are direct. The measures would raise the cost of the education-to-employment path that has directed Indian talent into American technology firms for a generation.

Part of a tracked trend

US Restricts Skilled Immigration

Washington raises the cost and narrows the path for foreign students and skilled workers, pushing talent and services demand toward India and other hubs and reshaping where high-skill work is done.

Veracity: Corroborated
80/100
If true, who benefits

Immigration-restriction advocates and rival talent destinations such as India that could capture displaced graduates and services demand.

The nuance

The fee is under DHS consideration, not enacted, and OPT's regulatory origin may give it more administrative durability than the H-1B fee a court already struck down as a tax.

An open-source-intelligence read of how likely this story is true with its real nuance, not a judgment of any outlet. It assesses the claim, weighing independent and adversarial reporting. How we label confidence.

What this means

The channel is the cost and availability of skilled labor moving into the United States. A six-figure fee on graduate work permits would price out many foreign students and push employers to hire abroad or relocate work, while redirecting talent toward India's own technology sector and rival destinations. Exposed are US universities that depend on international tuition, American technology firms that rely on foreign graduates, and Indian IT services companies that could capture displaced demand. The legal precedent striking down the H-1B fee suggests the new charge faces a real risk of being blocked in court.

What to watch

  • Whether the OPT fee is formally proposed and how it is structured, because framing it as a fee rather than a tax would determine its chances of surviving a legal challenge.
  • Enrollment and hiring decisions by US universities and technology firms, which would show whether the policy is already redirecting talent before it takes effect.

Observations to monitor, not financial advice.

3 sources

Synthesized from: The Hindu (OPT fee) · The Hindu (visa rules) · The Hindu (H-1B ruling)

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