Who would pay the fee?

The school. The proposal requires the SEVP-certified school to pay before its DSO recommends the student for OPT. It sets no rule on where the school gets the money. DHS says schools may pass the cost on to F-1 students, all students, or employers.

Not before a final rule. DHS proposes that the fees apply to DSO recommendations dated on or after the effective date of the final rule, 60 days after it is published. Under the proposal as written, what matters is the date of the DSO recommendation, not the date you start work. A final rule can change any of this.

I’m already on OPT. Do I owe anything?

DHS says it would apply the rule prospectively, so the OPT you already hold is not charged. But any new OPT recommendation dated on or after the effective date would be. As written, the $30,000 rate applies only if the $70,000 was paid for you earlier. A student who did OPT before the rule and gets a new recommendation after it, for example for STEM OPT, would trigger the $70,000 fee. DHS’s own cost estimate assumes STEM OPT students pay $70,000 in the first year.

Does the STEM OPT extension count?

Yes. A STEM OPT extension needs a new DSO recommendation, so it would carry the $30,000 fee, or $70,000 if no initial fee was paid for the student. DHS gives this example: pre-completion OPT followed by post-completion OPT would cost the school $70,000 plus $30,000, even with the same employer.

Does changing employers trigger a new fee?

No. DHS says the fee is not tied to an employer and is not triggered by a change of employer. It is triggered by a school’s decision to recommend a student for OPT.

Does it apply to CPT?

No. DHS says the proposal is limited to OPT and does not address Curricular Practical Training. DHS adds that it is watching CPT and may act later.

Can the school get its money back?

Only before the student receives the OPT work permit. The DSO must first remove the recommendation in SEVIS. SEVP would decide each refund request in its discretion, and its decision could not be appealed. After the work permit is issued, the fee would not be refunded under any circumstances.

DHS says it chose an initial fee comparable to the H-1B fee in Proclamation 10973, so that OPT is not used to avoid H-1B costs. It set the first fee higher because, DHS says, a student applying for OPT for the first time may not have been vetted by the government since applying for the F-1 visa. DHS also asks for comments on an alternative: charging the $70,000 again each time a student moves to a higher degree level.

How does this relate to the duration-of-status rule?

It is a separate rule. The proposal mentions the July 2026 duration-of-status final rule, which would replace open-ended F-1 stays with fixed end dates. Our separate pages explain that rule and the court order postponing it.

Go to regulations.gov and search for docket ICEB-2026-0100. Comments must be in English or include an English translation, and must be received by November 9, 2026. Everything you submit is posted publicly, including any personal information, so leave out details you do not want published.

DHS Proposes a $70,000 Fee for F-1 OPT (2026)

Executive summary

On October 8, 2026, DHS published a proposed rule that would add two fees to Optional Practical Training (OPT): $70,000 the first time an F-1 student is recommended for any type of OPT, and $30,000 for each later OPT recommendation, including the 24-month STEM OPT extension.

The fee is charged to the school, not directly to the student. An SEVP-certified school would have to pay before its Designated School Official (DSO) enters the OPT recommendation in SEVIS, and USCIS could not grant OPT work authorization without it. DHS says schools may pass the cost on to F-1 students, to all students, or to employers.

Nothing is charged today. Under the proposal, the fees would apply to DSO recommendations dated on or after the day a final rule takes effect, which DHS proposes as 60 days after the final rule is published. Comments are due by November 9, 2026, through regulations.gov, docket ICEB-2026-0100.

DHS gives three reasons: fraud in OPT, protecting U.S. workers, and stopping OPT from being used to get around H-1B caps, fees and wage rules. DHS says it set the amount to be comparable to the H-1B fee in Proclamation 10973, and that without these fees it “may shut down the program entirely.”

The scale is large. DHS counted 194,554 OPT and 95,384 STEM OPT participants in 2024, and estimates the fees would collect $8.4 billion to $16.5 billion a year.

What DHS proposes, in plain English

OPT lets F-1 students work in their field of study, during or after their program, usually for up to 12 months at each degree level. Students with a qualifying STEM degree can add 24 more months. Today, the student files Form I-765 with USCIS and pays the filing fee. There is no separate fee for OPT itself.

Under the proposal, your school would pay $70,000 before it could recommend you for OPT the first time. Each later OPT recommendation, for example post-completion OPT after pre-completion OPT, or a STEM OPT extension, would cost the school $30,000 more.

The rule does not say who the school must charge. DHS says schools may pass the cost on to F-1 students, all students, or employers. In practice, ask your international student office how it plans to handle the fee if the rule becomes final.

The fee follows the recommendation, not the job. Changing employers does not trigger a new fee. A new OPT recommendation does.

This is a proposal. DHS must read the comments and publish a final rule before any fee is charged, and the fee would start 60 days after that.

What DHS proposes

SEVP-certified schools would pay a one-time initial fee of $70,000 per F-1 student the first time the student is recommended for any type of OPT (proposed 8 CFR 214.13(i)(1)).
Schools would pay $30,000 per student before each later OPT recommendation, including pre-completion, post-completion and STEM OPT, once the $70,000 has been paid (proposed 8 CFR 214.13(i)(2)).
A DSO could not enter an OPT recommendation in SEVIS until the school pays, and USCIS could not grant OPT employment authorization without the fee paid (proposed 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(ii)–(iii)).
Schools could ask for a refund only if the student has not received the OPT work permit. SEVP would decide case by case, the decision would be final, and no refund would be possible after the work permit is issued.
The fees would apply to DSO recommendations dated on or after the effective date, proposed as 60 days after a final rule is published (proposed 8 CFR 214.13(i)(3)).
The proposal covers OPT only, not Curricular Practical Training (CPT).