If you are on an F-1, or working on OPT right now, you have probably seen messages in your group chats over the last couple of days like "OPT is going to cost $70,000" or "schools won't approve OPT anymore."
The short answer first: this is a proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on October 8. Nobody has to pay anything today. Even if it is finalized, the fee only starts 60 days after the final rule is published. And under the proposal, an OPT period that is already underway, already approved, or already recommended by your school is not charged.
The rule comes from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), part of the Department of Homeland Security. Its title is Optional Practical Training Fees, RIN 1653-AB01. When we wrote about the legal basis for OPT and CPT in September, it was still waiting in line for White House review and the text was not public. All we could say then was that what you'd need to prepare for was a bill. Now the text is out, all 91 pages of it, and below we go through the parts that matter to you.
01 How much would it cost?
Two tiers, charged per student:
| Situation | Amount | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| The student gets a school's OPT recommendation for the first time (pre-completion or post-completion both count) | $70,000 | Proposed 8 CFR 214.13(i)(1) |
| The $70,000 has already been paid and the student gets another OPT recommendation (another OPT period, or the STEM OPT extension) | $30,000 | Proposed 8 CFR 214.13(i)(2) |
The rule's preamble gives an example: a student does pre-completion OPT, then applies for post-completion OPT after graduating. Even with the same employer, the school would pay $70,000 first and then $30,000.
In other words, under the proposal, a student who goes from OPT all the way through a STEM extension would cost the school $100,000 in total.
One more thing worth noting: DHS says it is also considering a different approach. When a student moves to a higher degree (say, OPT after a bachelor's and then a master's) and does OPT again, the $70,000 would be charged again. That is not in the proposed regulatory text. DHS has put it out specifically to get comments on it.
02 Who pays?
Under the text, the school pays. More precisely, the payer is a school certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) to enroll F-1 students.
The order goes like this. The school pays first. The Designated School Official (DSO) in the international student office confirms the payment, and only then can enter the OPT recommendation in SEVIS and issue you a new I-20 showing the recommendation and the fee payment information. You then use that I-20 to file the I-765 (the work permit application) with USCIS. If the school hasn't paid, USCIS won't approve your EAD (proposed 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(ii)–(iii)).
The fee has nothing to do with your employer. The rule says a change of employer does not trigger the fee. What triggers it is the school's decision to recommend you for OPT.
That said, DHS is blunt about this in the rule: schools can pass the cost on to F-1 students, to all students, or to employers, and a DSO has no obligation to recommend every student and can choose not to pay the fee for a particular student. So whether the cost ends up landing on you depends on what each school decides, and we won't guess on the schools' behalf.
The refund rules are tight too. A school can ask for a refund only while the student has not yet received the EAD. SEVP decides case by case, and the decision cannot be appealed. Once the EAD is issued, there is no refund.
03 Does this affect me?
Under the proposal, the dividing line is the day the final rule takes effect, and what counts is the date on the school's recommendation (proposed 8 CFR 214.13(i)(3)). Find your situation:
- You are already on OPT, your OPT is already approved, or you got your school's recommendation before the effective date: that period is not charged. The rule says outright that schools do not have to pay in these three situations (Section VI, "Reliance interests").
- You are on OPT now and plan to apply for the STEM extension later: pay close attention here. The rule says that if you submit a new OPT request on or after the effective date, the new fees apply. And the $30,000 tier, as written, applies only to students who have already paid the $70,000. Your current OPT was approved before the rule, so no $70,000 was ever paid. Read literally, the text means your STEM extension would cost $70,000. DHS's own cost estimate works the same way: in the first, transition year, it counts every STEM extension at $70,000.
- You are still in school and haven't been recommended for OPT yet: if the rule is finalized as proposed, any recommendation dated on or after the effective date would carry the fee. In other words, if you get your recommendation before the effective date, that period is not charged. If you get it after, the school has to pay $70,000 first.
- You are applying to schools or about to start: DHS expects schools to become more selective and recommend OPT only for students they are willing to pay for. In its cost analysis, DHS also models a scenario where non-STEM students, who can only do one year of OPT, are less likely to get the $70,000 paid for that one year, and schools pay only for students who can go on to a STEM extension.
To work out when your OPT and STEM extension would fall, you can use the OPT timeline tool and the STEM OPT calculator to pin down your key dates first. Once an effective date is set, you can compare them directly.
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04 When would the fee start?
There is no date yet. Before a proposed rule actually starts collecting money, it still has to go through these steps:
- October 8: the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register (this is where we are now).
- A 30-day public comment period: the deadline is November 9, 2026 (11:59 p.m. Eastern).
- DHS reviews the comments and then publishes a final rule: there is no set timeline for this step. The amounts or scope could change, or the rule could stop here.
- The final rule takes effect 60 days after it is published: from that day, school recommendations dated on or after the effective date would carry the fee.
So even on the fastest path, it would be two months after a final rule is published. Put simply, anyone applying for OPT today, next week or next month still goes by the current rules.
05 Why does DHS want this fee?
DHS gives three reasons: fighting fraud in OPT, strengthening the integrity of the immigration system, and protecting U.S. workers. The rule cites news reports of shell companies selling jobs to foreign students and using OPT to get around H-1B caps and fees. Its background section also cites the September 24, 2025 H-1B presidential proclamation (No. 10973), the one that requires a $100,000 payment for H-1B. For now, courts have ruled that the government can't collect that $100,000 under its current practices, and the government can appeal. See the H-1B $100K entry fee litigation tracker for the latest.
The rule also gives a few numbers that show the scale:
- In 2024, 194,554 people were on OPT and 95,384 were on STEM OPT;
- DHS estimates that under its middle scenario, the fee would move about $12.8 billion a year from schools to the federal government (at a 3% discount rate).
These are DHS's own statements and estimates, not our calculations.
06 What can I do now?
- You don't need to pay anything. Current regulations have no OPT fee, and there won't be one before this proposal is finalized and takes effect. If someone tells you to "pay now to hold your spot," that has nothing to do with this rule.
- Ask your school's international student office. Whether and how the school passes on the cost is ultimately the school's decision, and the sooner you know, the easier it is to plan.
- If you want to weigh in, you can submit a comment. Anyone with a view can search docket number ICEB-2026-0100 on regulations.gov and submit. Comments must be in English, and the deadline is November 9, 2026. DHS says emails and letters sent through other channels will not count as comments.
When the rule moves again, for example when the deadline is confirmed, a final rule is published or someone sues, we'll write about it.
Sources
- Proposed rule: Department of Homeland Security, Optional Practical Training Fees, Notice of proposed rulemaking, RIN 1653-AB01, Docket No. ICEB-2026-0100, Federal Register document number 2026-20660, published October 8, 2026 (public inspection PDF, 91 pages; Federal Register page)
- Fee amounts and refunds: proposed 8 CFR 214.13(i)(1), (2)
- Effective date and transition: proposed 8 CFR 214.13(i)(3); preamble Section V.C, "Transition Period and Effective Date of the Final Rule"
- School pays first, USCIS won't grant an EAD without the fee: proposed 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(ii)–(iii)
- No fee for students already on OPT, approved, or recommended: preamble Section VI, "Reliance interests"
- Participation numbers and fee estimates: preamble Section VII, "Regulatory Impact Analysis"
- Comment period: 30 days after publication in the Federal Register; 60 days for the information collection (Paperwork Reduction Act) portion
Where this article cites the rule, it paraphrases the English original. This article is not legal advice. For your specific OPT plans, ask your school's international student office or a qualified immigration lawyer.