U.S. mulling $100,000 fee for foreign students after graduation work

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is considering imposing a $100,000 fee on foreign students seeking to work in the United States after graduating from American universities, a news report said Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the administration is weighing the idea of attaching the fee to an "optional practical training (OPT)" program that allows foreign university graduates to work in the U.S. for one to three years on student visas.

The proposed measure, if implemented, could affect U.S. universities keen on attracting foreign students, as well as Silicon Valley and Wall Street firms that hire international college graduates for technical posts, the newspaper said.

According to the latest data available, there were about 419,000 foreigners working on OPT in 2024, it said.

Consideration of the fee follows Trump's signing of a proclamation in September last year to impose a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B nonimmigrant visa applications for highly skilled foreign workers. Last week, a U.S. appeals court blocked the H-1B fee proclamation, upholding a lower court's decision.

The proposed fee is still under discussion at the Department of Homeland Security, the report said, noting that it was unclear whether the White House would approve the fee and who would be responsible for paying it — foreign students or their prospective employers.

Yonhap