Latest news with #OPT


Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
H-1B visa cap for FY 2026 reached: Here's what it means for students, graduates, and working professionals
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has reached the H-1B visa cap for fiscal year (FY) 2026, closing the door for new cap-subject petitions until next year. This development directly affects international students, recent graduates, and professionals planning to begin or continue work in the U.S. under the H-1B program. Each fiscal year, the USCIS allows up to 65,000 regular H-1B visas, with an additional 20,000 slots reserved for individuals holding a U.S. master's degree or higher. For FY 2026, USCIS confirmed that it received enough petitions to meet both these limits, and the filing period for selected applicants concluded on July 1, 2025. Registration numbers and selection process The 2025 registration window, which feeds into FY 2026 approvals, saw 343,981 eligible H-1B registrations submitted. From this pool, USCIS selected 120,141 beneficiaries to move forward with full petition filings. The selection process, revised this year to focus on individual beneficiaries rather than multiple submissions from different employers, aimed to reduce fraud and level the playing field. Despite a 27% drop in overall registrations compared to the previous cycle, demand for H-1B visas remains strong. With only 85,000 total spots available, a significant portion of eligible applicants were not selected, including many recent international graduates and skilled foreign professionals. Impact on students and graduates The cap closure has major implications for international students in the U.S., especially those on F-1 visas currently working under Optional Practical Training (OPT) or STEM OPT. Many of these students aim to transition to an H-1B visa as a pathway to long-term employment. With the cap reached, those who were not selected in the lottery must now explore alternative options to maintain their legal work status in the U.S. This includes seeking employment with H-1B cap-exempt organisations such as universities, nonprofit research institutions, and certain government bodies. Others may consider switching to different visa categories such as the O-1 (for individuals with extraordinary ability), L-1 (intra-company transfers), or the J-1 (exchange visitor) visa. Some may also consider relocating to countries with more flexible post-study work pathways, such as Canada, Australia, or Germany. Situation for working professionals For professionals outside the U.S. hoping to secure a first-time H-1B visa, the window of opportunity has now closed for FY 2026. These applicants must wait for the next cycle, which will begin with registrations in March 2026 for employment starting in October 2026. Individuals already on H-1B status are not affected by the cap. USCIS will continue to process extensions, amendments, employer transfers, and concurrent employment petitions. Cap-exempt petitions, such as those filed by qualified nonprofit and research institutions, will also continue to be accepted throughout the year. Policy changes and future outlook This year marked the implementation of several changes to the H-1B registration system, including a substantial increase in the registration fee, from $10 to $215, and a revised selection process. These changes were introduced to enhance fairness and reduce misuse, but they also increased the financial and procedural burden on employers and applicants. The U.S. continues to face growing pressure from academic institutions, tech companies, and immigration advocates to expand the H-1B cap or create more flexible visa categories to retain global talent. Until such reforms are introduced, the visa cap will continue to be a significant barrier for many international students and skilled professionals aiming to build careers in the U.S. TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here . Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!


Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Why are Edlow and Vaughan calling OPT illegal? Here's the real story
OPT faces mounting legal and political attacks, putting the future of 200,000 international graduates at risk. In the quietly panicked corridors of international education policy, a storm is gathering around the United States' Optional Practical Training (OPT) program—and for once, it's not hyperbole to say that the damage may already be done. The numbers are stark, the policy narrative even starker. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) SEVIS 2024 report, over 194,554 international students received work authorisation under OPT last year. Of these, a staggering 95,384 secured extensions under the STEM OPT provision. And standing at the centre of this tectonic shift are Indian students, who account for nearly 98,000 of those OPT authorisations during the 2023–24 cycle, as confirmed by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. But now, the very scaffolding of this bridge—from academic promise to professional foothold—is under coordinated assault by voices both influential and ideological. Leading the charge are Jessica Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), and Joseph Edlow, the newly confirmed Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Both have testified before Congress in 2025 that OPT is not only legally suspect but structurally dangerous. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cardiologists Beg: Take These 4 Ingredients Before Bed to Burn Fat The Healthy Way Learn More Undo by Taboola by Taboola The rhetoric may be wrapped in legalese, but the intent is clear: Dismantle the post-study work rights that have long made U.S. degrees a prized aspiration for international—and particularly Indian—students. What's at stake is more than immigration. It is the erasure of a pipeline that has quietly underwritten America's dominance in global tech and innovation. Edlow and Vaughan 's case against OPT: Congress didn't sign it, so let's burn it At the core of the campaign to dismantle the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program lies a foundational dispute—not merely about visas or foreign labour, but about who gets to define the boundaries of lawful work in postsecondary America. And in this ideological contest, Jessica Vaughan and Joseph Edlow have emerged as the architects of what they frame as a long-overdue correction. Their argument is deceptively simple: OPT is not law—it is regulation. Worse, they claim, it is unregulated regulation, sustained not by statute but by administrative inertia and legal loopholes. In her detailed testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee in June 2025, Vaughan—Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS)—delivered a withering critique of what she called 'the largest unregulated guest worker scheme in the United States.' Drawing from internal data sets provided by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, Vaughan revealed that over 540,000 work authorisations were granted under OPT and CPT (Curricular Practical Training) in FY2023 alone. This, she argued, was not just administrative generosity—it was regulatory anarchy. In her words, OPT had "spawned an industry of diploma mills, fake schools, bogus training programs, and illegal employment." According to her testimony, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)—the body meant to oversee the legitimacy of these academic affiliations—was too chronically under-resourced to vet the scale of demand. The result, she concluded, was a parallel ecosystem of academic storefronts and training programmes designed not for learning, but for visa preservation and labour substitution. But perhaps her sharpest critique was constitutional in tone. OPT, she reminded the Committee, is not authorised by the US Congress. It was created as an extension of executive rulemaking, first formalised under the Bush administration and later expanded under Obama. 'There has never been a vote in Congress,' Vaughan noted, 'to allow hundreds of thousands of foreign graduates to work on US soil under this program. ' Edlow, a former Trump-era official brought back to restore 'legal fidelity' to immigration enforcement, seconded the legalistic rebuke. In multiple briefings before the Senate and in internal USCIS memoranda from April–June 2025, Edlow contended that the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) makes no provision for post-completion work for F-1 visa holders. "The INA is unambiguous," he said. "Student visas are for study—not for work after graduation. " He took particular aim at the 2023 D.C. Circuit Court ruling, which upheld the legality of OPT and its STEM extension. The decision, Edlow claimed, rested on an 'erroneous reading of statutory intent'—one that unjustifiably enlarged the executive branch's power to define immigration eligibility criteria without congressional consent. In his congressional appearances and in internal DHS documents, Edlow has further proposed reorienting USCIS enforcement priorities. Specifically, he has called for an expanded role for the Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) directorate in vetting OPT applicants and employers—a move that signals a coming compliance-heavy era, where student employment records could be re-audited, revoked, or flagged for deportation if found wanting. Both Vaughan and Edlow converge on the same policy prescription, stated either in soft legalism or hard numbers: The OPT program must either be terminated outright or restricted so severely that it becomes operationally nonviable for most international graduates. In other words, OPT must be stripped of its current utility to ensure it cannot continue under the guise of administrative legitimacy. What really lies beneath Edlow and Vaughan's constitutional and legal arguments? Behind Edlow and Vaughan's polished legal rhetoric lies a deeper mission—one that has less to do with statutes and more to do with reshaping America's relationship with global talent. Woven beneath the testimony is a broader, more ideological belief that international student mobility has been hijacked by corporate interests, and that foreign graduates are now indistinguishable from guest workers, hired to circumvent wage floors, sidestep payroll taxes, and bypass labour market tests that would otherwise favour American graduates. To this end, Vaughan and Edlow's critique is not merely of OPT as policy, but of OPT as economic architecture—an invisible scaffold that supports tech giants, universities, and global talent mobility. For them, removing that scaffold is not disruption. It is restoration. Come, pay, tuition and leave What Edlow and Vaughan propose is more than a policy fix—it is a structural decoupling of education from employability, one that threatens to return the F-1 visa to a narrow, transactional instrument: come, pay tuition, and leave. It is this return to pre-globalisation thinking that most alarms educators and economists alike. And it is this version of 'legal clarity' that could leave hundreds of thousands of students—including the 98,000 Indian graduates currently working under OPT—on the edge of a bureaucratic cliff, with no safety net beyond the 90-day unemployment cap. TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here . Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!


Economic Times
a day ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Indian students on thin ICE in US over new law. Immigration crackdown to get $170 bn; job search under stress
Agencies This is an AI-generated image. The 'One Big Beautiful Bill' that President Donald Trump signed into law early this month delivers another setback to Indian students in the US, injecting nearly $170 billion into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand its hardline deportation empowers enforcement agencies to extend their reach into local communities and actively pursue visa overstays, top executives at study abroad platforms said. For Indian graduates on Optional Practical Training (OPT) – a temporary employment authorisation to gain work experience in their field of study – even brief delays in finding work, or overstaying by just one day, could now lead to serious consequences. In addition, the 1% remittance tax introduced as part of the Act is expected to hit many students who send money back home to support their families or repay loans. 'Even a small tax can affect low-income students — every dollar counts when supporting tuition or families back home,' said Adarsh Khandelwal, cofounder of Collegify. The tax will apply to foreign remittances made by not just H-1B or green card holders but F-1 student visa holders as well, using cash-like methods (cash, money orders, cashier's checks). For instance, a $1,000 transfer to India would incur a $10 students going on full fee and no scholarship will be spared from the tax, which will apply to transfers made after January 1, 2026. Tax Troubles & Stricter Screening Some study abroad experts see the tax as a temporary blip rather than a major deterrent. 'A 1% rate is annoying, not prohibitive,' said Nikhil Jain, founder of ForeignAdmits. 'Students are resourceful; they'll adapt by consolidating transfers, exploring digital wallets, or simply factoring it into their budget,' he Zaveri, joint managing director of Career Mosaic, and Lindsey Lopez, head of US operations at Applyboard, said postgraduate students and recent graduates working on OPT or H-1B often send money to support families, pay off loans, or invest in tax is just one more source of anxiety for Indian students in the US. Since January, they have been under increasing stress as the new Trump administration started tightening scrutiny of non-immigrant visa holders and deporting illegal immigrants. Stricter visa process and screening of social media posts in recent months have put students on edge. 'Students are becoming hypervigilant about everything – their social media presence, their financial transactions, their visa status,' Jain of ForeignAdmits said. 'This tax is just adding to the paranoia.'Students and visa applicants are mostly deleting old social media posts and being extra careful about their online activities, experts One Big Beautiful Bill Act also cuts federal support such as Medicaid and SNAP – a federal food purchase assistance funding programme for the poor that has been available to many students as well – to state may force most of these institutions to rely more on full fee-paying international students, who are exempted from the new remittance only a small fraction of Indian students in the US attend Ivy League institutes at full cost. Most are dependent on some form of financial aid or attend mid-tier Indian students looking to study abroad may now consider other destinations, experts said.'The US may become even more attractive for Ivy League-bound, research-driven students,' said Khandelwal of Collegify. 'But mid-tier aspirants may pivot to Canada or Europe, where the welcome mat feels more genuine.' (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. What's keeping real retail investors out of the Nvidia rally Instagram and YouTube make billions off creators. Should they pay up for their mental health? Markets need to see more than profits from Oyo The hybrid vs. EV rivalry: Why Maruti and Mahindra pull in different directions. What's best? Stock Radar: Why is CDSL looking an attractive buy at current levels? Check target & stop loss for long positions Get ready for volatility with the big, better & experienced. 7 large-caps from different sectors with an upside potential of up to 39% Buy, Sell or Hold: Motilal Oswal sees over 20% upside in Tech Mahindra; YES Securities maintains add call on ICICI Lombard Weekly Top Picks: These stocks scored 10 on 10 on Stock Reports Plus
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
I left the US for Canada. Getting a green card seemed impossible, and the uncertainty overshadowed the positives of living in America.
After moving to the US from India, Sindhu Mahadevan grew frustrated with the immigration system. She felt the pathway to a green card was going nowhere, so she eventually moved to Canada. As a permanent resident, she feels more secure, and she's fine with having taken a salary hit. This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Sindhu Mahadevan, who moved from the US to Canada in 2021. The following has been edited for length and clarity. I moved to the US from India in 2012 to study a master's degree in biology. I graduated and entered the workforce in the States, but slowly began to grow disillusioned with the US immigration system. In 2021, I decided to stop fighting the system and move to Canada. Although I've left behind the high salaries available in the US, I've traded it for a sense of belonging as a permanent resident in Canada. I entered the American workforce, but felt vulnerable as an immigrant I grew up in a city in western India. I had family who lived in the US. I moved there on an F-1 visa for international students and graduated in 2014. My visa status made me eligible for two types of work authorization — optional practical training (OPT) and curricular practical training (CPT), both of which I used. I knew that after my student work authorization expired, I'd require a visa sponsorship. Some companies I applied to told me they wouldn't offer sponsorships or ghosted me after they realized I'd eventually need one. I started a career in the medical device industry and was employed under my work authorization until 2018. I was very conscious of my immigration status at work. I struggled to have difficult conversations about aligning everyone on compliance issues because I was worried about my job security. Sometimes, I felt this affected how well I could do my job. The path to a green card didn't feel possible I got married in 2015, and my husband, who was also on a visa, and I wanted to try to build a life in the US. I felt I needed permanent residency to do this. I wanted the freedom to visit India and the flexibility to change jobs, which became complicated on an F-1 visa. In 2016 and 2017, my company tried twice to get me an H-1B visa, which can be a step toward permanent residency in the US. Petitions are chosen for processing through a lottery selection system, but I wasn't picked either time. Around that time, I started to find out more information about the green card backlog for Indian nationals. There's a cap per country at 7% of all the green cards allocated that year. India has a large population with a lot of applicants, so there is a very long waitlist to have your applications processed. I felt I was thrashing against the system just to be able to stay in the country and contribute. In a moment of clarity, I realized I wasn't willing to keep fighting. In 2018, I no longer had work authorization and had to stop working. I didn't like not making an income at all, and it felt like a hard-won career had been yanked away from me. I moved to Canada as a permanent resident and have found a sense of belonging As a temporary solution, I tried changing my status from an F-1 to an F-2 visa, which would make me a dependent of my husband's F-1. I was allowed to remain in the US while my application was pending. Around the same time I filed the application to change my status, I began looking at backup plans. Moving to Canada was on the cards through the "Express Entry" system. It's a points-based system that scores applicants on things like their education, work experience, and language proficiencies. The highest-scoring applicants receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence. My work experience was American-centric. Canada was a better fit than Europe or Asia. I applied just before the pandemic hit in 2020, when I still hadn't heard back with a final decision about changing my status to F-2. I received PR in October 2021, and my husband and I went to Canada straight away. As a permanent resident, I can work and buy property, but I can't vote in elections or stay outside Canada for longer than 730 days in a five-year window. In the US, I was a passenger along for the ride. In Canada, with PR status, I'm back in the driver's seat. I feel comfortable and in a solid legal position. As a permanent resident, I can take chances with my career I haven't had issues getting employment without Canadian experience, a problem some expats face, perhaps because my US experience is seen as valuable in my industry. I had a job lined up before the move. I've taken a salary hit, but with my PR status I have the freedom to take a chance working for a startup, something I wouldn't have dreamed of while in the US, where if the startup went under and I lost my job, it could mean the end of the road. Though more politely presented here than in the US, anti-immigrant sentiment in Canada concerns me, even though I haven't personally experienced negativity. People are expressing concerns around strained healthcare and housing, and Canada is experiencing immigration contraction. I'm fine with Canada's smaller economy Living in America shaped me in many ways. I admire Americans for their zeal to fight for what they believe in and to speak up. I don't regret moving there. If you're looking for the best universities or economy, the rational choice is the US. I moved to the US for my education, but the constraints of the immigration system slowly overshadowed the economic opportunities. I'm fine being in a smaller economy where I have more security. In a statement to BI, a spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security said it was "committed to restoring integrity to the visa program" and ensuring people cannot illegally remain in the US. Do you have a story to share about immigrating to the US? Contact this reporter at ccheong@ Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
I left the US for Canada. Getting a green card seemed impossible, and the uncertainty overshadowed the positives of living in America.
After moving to the US from India, Sindhu Mahadevan grew frustrated with the immigration system. She felt the pathway to a green card was going nowhere, so she eventually moved to Canada. As a permanent resident, she feels more secure, and she's fine with having taken a salary hit. This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Sindhu Mahadevan, who moved from the US to Canada in 2021. The following has been edited for length and clarity. I moved to the US from India in 2012 to study a master's degree in biology. I graduated and entered the workforce in the States, but slowly began to grow disillusioned with the US immigration system. In 2021, I decided to stop fighting the system and move to Canada. Although I've left behind the high salaries available in the US, I've traded it for a sense of belonging as a permanent resident in Canada. I entered the American workforce, but felt vulnerable as an immigrant I grew up in a city in western India. I had family who lived in the US. I moved there on an F-1 visa for international students and graduated in 2014. My visa status made me eligible for two types of work authorization — optional practical training (OPT) and curricular practical training (CPT), both of which I used. I knew that after my student work authorization expired, I'd require a visa sponsorship. Some companies I applied to told me they wouldn't offer sponsorships or ghosted me after they realized I'd eventually need one. I started a career in the medical device industry and was employed under my work authorization until 2018. I was very conscious of my immigration status at work. I struggled to have difficult conversations about aligning everyone on compliance issues because I was worried about my job security. Sometimes, I felt this affected how well I could do my job. The path to a green card didn't feel possible I got married in 2015, and my husband, who was also on a visa, and I wanted to try to build a life in the US. I felt I needed permanent residency to do this. I wanted the freedom to visit India and the flexibility to change jobs, which became complicated on an F-1 visa. In 2016 and 2017, my company tried twice to get me an H-1B visa, which can be a step toward permanent residency in the US. Petitions are chosen for processing through a lottery selection system, but I wasn't picked either time. Around that time, I started to find out more information about the green card backlog for Indian nationals. There's a cap per country at 7% of all the green cards allocated that year. India has a large population with a lot of applicants, so there is a very long waitlist to have your applications processed. I felt I was thrashing against the system just to be able to stay in the country and contribute. In a moment of clarity, I realized I wasn't willing to keep fighting. In 2018, I no longer had work authorization and had to stop working. I didn't like not making an income at all, and it felt like a hard-won career had been yanked away from me. I moved to Canada as a permanent resident and have found a sense of belonging As a temporary solution, I tried changing my status from an F-1 to an F-2 visa, which would make me a dependent of my husband's F-1. I was allowed to remain in the US while my application was pending. Around the same time I filed the application to change my status, I began looking at backup plans. Moving to Canada was on the cards through the "Express Entry" system. It's a points-based system that scores applicants on things like their education, work experience, and language proficiencies. The highest-scoring applicants receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence. My work experience was American-centric. Canada was a better fit than Europe or Asia. I applied just before the pandemic hit in 2020, when I still hadn't heard back with a final decision about changing my status to F-2. I received PR in October 2021, and my husband and I went to Canada straight away. As a permanent resident, I can work and buy property, but I can't vote in elections or stay outside Canada for longer than 730 days in a five-year window. In the US, I was a passenger along for the ride. In Canada, with PR status, I'm back in the driver's seat. I feel comfortable and in a solid legal position. As a permanent resident, I can take chances with my career I haven't had issues getting employment without Canadian experience, a problem some expats face, perhaps because my US experience is seen as valuable in my industry. I had a job lined up before the move. I've taken a salary hit, but with my PR status I have the freedom to take a chance working for a startup, something I wouldn't have dreamed of while in the US, where if the startup went under and I lost my job, it could mean the end of the road. Though more politely presented here than in the US, anti-immigrant sentiment in Canada concerns me, even though I haven't personally experienced negativity. People are expressing concerns around strained healthcare and housing, and Canada is experiencing immigration contraction. I'm fine with Canada's smaller economy Living in America shaped me in many ways. I admire Americans for their zeal to fight for what they believe in and to speak up. I don't regret moving there. If you're looking for the best universities or economy, the rational choice is the US. I moved to the US for my education, but the constraints of the immigration system slowly overshadowed the economic opportunities. I'm fine being in a smaller economy where I have more security. In a statement to BI, a spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security said it was "committed to restoring integrity to the visa program" and ensuring people cannot illegally remain in the US. Do you have a story to share about immigrating to the US? Contact this reporter at ccheong@ Read the original article on Business Insider