Way forward for 1 lakh Indian college students at stake as US Invoice seeks to finish OPT work visa
Rising uncertainty and concern of deportation have begun to have an effect on a brand new group of Indian college students within the US — these pursuing levels in science, know-how, engineering, and arithmetic (STEM). This concern follows the introduction of a Invoice within the US Congress that seeks to finish the Non-compulsory Sensible Coaching (OPT) programme, which presently permits worldwide college students on F-1 visas to realize non permanent work expertise associated to their area of research. This comes amid the Trump administration’s use of AI instruments to watch college students and revocation of scholar visas even for minor infractions.
The OPT programme allows worldwide STEM graduates to work within the US for as much as three years after the completion of their levels. If the Invoice is handed, these college students — lots of them Indian — might be pressured to go away the US until they safe an H-1B visa. The H-1B route, too, is going through growing scrutiny.
In response to the Open Doorways 2024 report, one-third of the over 300,000 Indian college students within the US have been enroled within the OPT programme.
Whereas the OPT programme supplies sensible expertise for each tutorial and vocational college students, its potential removing would considerably restrict pathways to long-term employment within the US. The choice, an H-1B visa, is very aggressive and capped yearly, making it an unsure possibility for a lot of.
High US universities corresponding to Stanford, Columbia, Duke and the College of California are famend for his or her STEM programmes and appeal to 1000’s of worldwide college students every year.
Latest statements from these establishments have revealed rising considerations over sudden and unexplained visa revocations — a growth that solely provides to the unease.
WHAT IS US OPT PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
The OPT programme was launched in 1947 to permit overseas college students to work within the US if employment was required or really helpful by their academic establishment. This short-term sensible coaching programme expanded over time. In 2008, the Bush administration prolonged OPT for STEM graduates from 12 to 29 months. Later, the Obama administration prolonged it additional to 36 months. These extensions have been justified by the numerous financial and technological contributions made by overseas college students.
Whereas earlier makes an attempt to take away OPT failed within the US Congress, the ‘Equity for Excessive-Expert People Act’ was launched by Congressman Paul Gosar on March 25 as HR 2315 within the 199th US Congress (2025–26).
In response to the 2023 report by the Congressional Analysis Service (CRS), out of all F-1 and M-1 college students and up to date graduates within the US, 344,686 have been authorised to work below the OPT programme.
This group constitutes 23% of all worldwide college students within the US — for whom OPT gives a vital alternative to realize work expertise, transition to an H-1B visa, apply for Inexperienced Playing cards, and, ultimately, pursue US citizenship.
The shift in US coverage relating to worldwide college students since Donald Trump took over as US President is obvious. His marketing campaign promise to tighten immigration insurance policies and throw out unlawful immigrants has additionally made foreigners who’re legally within the US targets of MAGA crowd.
The shift is obvious. Solely final yr, the ‘Hold STEM Graduates in America Act of 2024’ (HR 9023) was launched by Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar throughout the 118th US Congress (2023–24). It aimed to simplify the appliance course of for overseas college students in search of to stay within the US after finishing a STEM diploma, and to ease the transition from F-1, J-1, or M-1 visas to H-1B.
WHY IS OPT PROGRAMME UNDER SCRUTINY?
At a January 22, 2025, US Home Judiciary Committee listening to, Jessica M Vaughan, Director of Coverage Research on the Middle for Immigration Research, sharply criticised the Non-compulsory Sensible Coaching (OPT) and Curricular Sensible Coaching (CPT) programmes.
She argued that these initiatives lacked congressional authorisation and have been susceptible to exploitation, particularly by diploma mills that subject fraudulent work authorisations. “They need to both be eradicated or positioned below a lot stricter regulation,” Vaughan stated.
She emphasised that these programmes had successfully created the most important visitor employee inhabitants within the US, with roughly 540,000 former worldwide college students employed with out enough oversight.
The dimensions is important. In fiscal yr 2023, a complete of 539,382 overseas college students labored by way of OPT, STEM OPT, and CPT. In contrast to the H-1B visa, which has an annual cap, these programmes haven’t any such restrict—276,452 college students have been on OPT, 122,101 on STEM OPT, and 140,829 on CPT.
In 2022, the employees’ alliance WashTech filed a lawsuit, arguing that OPT allowed employers to sidestep the H-1B visa cap, thereby disadvantaging US employees.
The brand new Invoice in search of to finish a piece visa route below the OPT programme for worldwide college students will go away a few lakh Indians within the US frightened. Although the Invoice has little or no likelihood of being handed, it’s going to add to the agony of Indian college students in American universities.
