Follow-up: Public Comment on Proposed $70,000 OPT Fee for International Students Closes Nov. 9
Public comment closes Monday, November 9, on the Department of Homeland Security's proposal to charge new fees for international students' Optional Practical Training (OPT). Under the proposal from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Docket No. ICEB-2026-0100, a school would have to pay $70,000 for each F-1 student before its designated school official could recommend that student for an initial period of OPT, and $30,000 for each subsequent OPT recommendation, including STEM extensions. The proposal drew wide attention on campuses when it was published in October.
The proposal appeared in the Federal Register on October 8 (91 FR 64566). It is not in effect, and no new fee is payable today. By the department's own estimate, if finalized, the fees paid by 2,478 certified schools would total roughly $8.4 billion to $16.5 billion a year. According to the docket figures on the Federal Register's document records, about 4,844 comments had been filed on the docket as of November 2; comments on the proposal's information-collection provisions run on a separate track until December 7.
Two other DHS immigration proposals close for comment in the same week: one would end the 60-day grace period for laid-off H-1B and other work-visa holders, and another would end U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' practice of deferring to its own prior approvals in extension cases. The three dockets had drawn about 32,400 comments combined as of November 2.
Comments can be filed through the federal eRulemaking portal at regulations.gov, identified by Docket No. ICEB-2026-0100, by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 9. Comments become public, so filers should not include a SEVIS number or other information they do not want published. Whether the fee takes effect, and at what level, will be decided only after the department reviews the comments and issues a final rule.
(Source: Federal Register)
Source: Federal Register
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Wikimedia Commons（杜兰大学校园内的学生，Tulane Public Relations摄，CC BY 2.0） / Image: Students on the Tulane University campus in New Orleans, by Tulane Public Relations, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
- 2026-10-07DHS Proposes $70,000 OPT Training Fee for International Graduates
- 2026-11-03Follow-up: Public Comment on Proposed $70,000 OPT Fee for International Students Closes Nov. 9This story
