Comment periods on three proposed rules from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) close next week. All three are proposals, not law. The 60-day grace period still applies today.
1. OPT fees (comments due November 9)
Published in the Federal Register on October 8. It proposes a $70,000 fee before a student's first OPT recommendation and $30,000 for each later one. The school is the legal payer and may pass the cost on. F1Jobs says STEM OPT counts as a later recommendation.
2. End of the 60-day grace period (comments due November 10)
Published on September 11. It would remove the up-to-60-day window that H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, TN and E workers and their dependants get after a job ends. Status would lapse the day after employment ends.
3. No deference to past approvals (comments due November 13)
Published on October 14. USCIS would stop deferring to an earlier approval on the same facts when it reviews an extension, which is expected to mean more requests for evidence.
F1Jobs counted about 27,000 comments on the grace-period rule, 4,793 on OPT fees and about 400 on the deference rule as of November 1. Remunance reports India-born workers received about 71% of the roughly 3.99 lakh (399,000) H-1B petitions approved in FY2024.
