DHS Proposes $70,000 OPT Fee: What's in the New ICE Rule
DHS proposed a $70,000 fee for a student's first OPT recommendation and $30,000 for each later one, including STEM OPT. Here's who pays and the rule's status as of November 2026.
VisaProAdviserVisas, migration and life abroad

Covers US work-based immigration — from H-1B to student F-1 status and the way federal rules shift almost monthly. Looks harder than most at the gap between official guidance and what actually happens at consular interviews and inside USCIS offices, where a denial is more often born from a new procedural detail than from an applicant's mistake. Readers leave with dated, cross-checked markers rather than general visa talk: what changed this week and how it lands on a real case. Breaks the visa bulletin down piece by piece, from basic category logic to predictions for the new fiscal year, and separately walks through what visa pauses and changes to the 60-day grace period mean for anyone who has fallen out of status. Tracks updates to USCIS forms, OPT fees, and TPS designations, showing how they add up. Doesn't litigate cases or file petitions — only follows where policy is heading.
DHS proposed a $70,000 fee for a student's first OPT recommendation and $30,000 for each later one, including STEM OPT. Here's who pays and the rule's status as of November 2026.
EB-2 worldwide moved 3 months to April 1, 2025; EB-3 advanced 1 month. Full Chart A and Chart B dates for EB-1 through EB-3, November 2026.
How to manage international travel on H-1B, why premium processing matters, and what PERM recruitment requirements look like after recent suspensions — a guide for employers.
DOL paused new PERM filings and pending cases at some employers on Oct 8, and USCIS ended the 540-day EAD auto-extension on Oct 30. Here's what changes.
DHS has proposed a $70,000 fee for a student's first OPT recommendation and $30,000 for each later one. Here's where the CPT lawsuit and OPT fee rule stand as of October 2026.
Section 1 is due by the employee's first day of work; Section 2 by the end of the third business day. Lists A, B, C and the 2025 form edition explained.
EB-2 India reopened at November 1, 2013. EB-3 and EB-2 worldwide retrogressed. What it means for I-140 downgrades, adjustment of status, and Form I-9 on H-1B.
No: the $100,000 H-1B proclamation fee is blocked by two federal court rulings. Here's how it differs from the proposed $103,000 cap-petition fee.
No: on September 14, a Massachusetts federal court blocked DHS's duration of status repeal for F, J, I visas. Here's what changes for TN, TD applicants too.