Are you on OPT right now, and hoping to ask for the STEM OPT extension later? Then one federal proposal from October 2026 is worth ten minutes of reading.

The short answer

  • DHS has proposed two new OPT fees: $70,000 the first time a student gets OPT, and $30,000 for each later OPT request. For a student whose school already paid the $70,000, the STEM OPT extension counts as a later request.
  • The school would pay the fee, not USCIS and not (directly) you. But DHS openly says schools could shift the cost to students or employers.
  • This is not a final rule. It changes nothing today.
  • Public comments close on November 9, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

Some terms we use below:

  • OPT (Optional Practical Training): F-1 work time tied to what you studied.
  • STEM OPT adds 24 more months of OPT for certain science, tech, engineering and math degrees.
  • DSO stands for designated school official, your school's F-1 contact who signs off on OPT.
  • SEVIS is the federal system where your F-1 file lives.
  • EAD is the plastic work card USCIS mails out (employment authorization document).

What the proposal says

On October 8, 2026, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), which sits inside DHS, released a proposal in the Federal Register under the title "Optional Practical Training Fees." Here is what it would do, in plain words:

  1. Two amounts. $70,000 for a student's first OPT of any type. $30,000 for any OPT after that. The notice gives examples of a later OPT: a second pre-completion period, post-completion OPT, or the STEM extension.
  2. The school pays before the DSO acts. The DSO could not enter an OPT recommendation in SEVIS until the school paid.
  3. USCIS would wait for payment. USCIS would not grant OPT work permission unless the fee had been paid.
  4. A new I-20. The DSO would give the student an I-20 that shows the recommendation and the fee payment details. The student then files Form I-765 with USCIS.
  5. Not tied to a job. The fee is linked to the school's recommendation. A change of employer would not trigger it.

On the cost question, the notice says schools may pass the financial burden to F-1 students, to all students, or to employers. The proposal itself does not decide who ends up paying.

Refunds under the plan

  • If the student has not yet received the EAD, the school could ask for a refund. SEVP, the program that certifies F-1 schools, would decide. Its answer would be final, with no appeal.
  • Once the student has received the EAD, the fee would not be refunded at all.

Timing: who would and would not be charged

DHS proposes that a final rule would take effect 60 days after it is published. The fee would apply to DSO recommendations dated on or after that day.

The notice says a school would not pay the fee for a student who, before that date:

  • is already doing approved OPT,
  • was already approved for OPT, or
  • already had a DSO recommendation for OPT.

Here is the part that matters for future STEM OPT. The same notice says that if such a student makes a new OPT request on or after the effective date, the fee rules would apply to that new request. So a person on post-completion OPT today, whose STEM recommendation comes after a final rule takes effect, would be inside the new fee rules.

One point to watch: the $30,000 amount is written only for students whose school already paid the $70,000 fee. The proposed rule text charges $70,000 for any OPT recommendation dated on or after the start date, unless that $70,000 was paid before. DHS's own cost estimate also assumes STEM OPT students would pay $70,000 in the first year. So someone whose first OPT came before the rule could face the $70,000 amount for a later STEM OPT request. A final rule could say this differently. Ask your DSO.

DHS also asked for public views on another idea: charging the $70,000 amount again when a student moves to a higher degree level, for example from a bachelor's OPT to a master's OPT.

What we would do this week

  • Read the notice yourself. The Federal Register link is below. The summary and the "Public Participation" section are short.
  • Know your STEM OPT window. Per USCIS, the STEM OPT Form I-765 can go in during the 90 days before the OPT card you hold now runs out. There is a second clock too: USCIS must get the form within 60 days from the day your school's DSO records the STEM recommendation in SEVIS. Talk to your DSO about where your dates fall.
  • Tell your manager or HR. An employer can comment too, and DHS named employers as one group that might end up paying.
  • Comment if you want to. Students, schools and employers can all send one.

How to send a comment

  • Go to regulations.gov and search for docket ICEB-2026-0100. Include that docket number in what you send.
  • Online only. DHS says emails and letters sent to the department will not be counted as comments.
  • Comments must be in English or include an English translation.
  • Comments become public, with any personal details you type in. Leave out private information.
  • DHS says the comments that help it most name the exact section they are about and back the point with facts.
  • A separate, later deadline of December 7, 2026 covers only the paperwork part of the proposal (the "information collection" under the Paperwork Reduction Act).

A note from us

PIXEL RECRUITING LLC is a staffing company, not a law firm. Treat this post as a plain-language reading of a public notice. It is not legal advice. For dates that are yours alone, a DSO or a licensed immigration lawyer is the better place to ask.

Sources

PIXEL RECRUITING LLC finds frontend and UI engineers for client teams and is a direct staffing partner for Mastercard in O'Fallon, MO. OPT and STEM OPT rules shape the job plans of many engineers we place, so we follow fee and rule changes like this one closely. Reach us at pixelrecruiting.com.