Industry Odisha Bureau, Aug 25: The US Department of Homeland Security has proposed raising H-1B visa fees to $103,265 substantially. The proposal revives a levy previously struck down by courts last year decisively. The regulation also targets the F-1 Optional Practical Training programme as part of a broader overhaul. Indian nationals face particular exposure as they comprise over seventy percent of beneficiaries significantly.
The Department has additionally proposed eliminating the sixty-day grace period available to H-1B workers currently. If finalised, workers and dependents would have to leave the United States almost immediately. Previously, professionals losing employment could spend two months securing new sponsorship or changing visa status. The proposed change would eliminate this crucial transition window for foreign national professionals entirely.
Corporate immigration firm Fragomen warned that these changes would sharply raise costs considerably for affected groups. Foreign nationals and transitioning university students would face steeper financial barriers to US employment substantially. Employers sponsoring H-1B staff would also face substantially increased compliance and petition filing expenses directly. The F-1 OPT programme fee could potentially reach approximately one hundred thousand dollars annually or more.
The 2024 statistics underscore the heavy Indian demographic exposure to these proposed regulatory changes substantially. Of three hundred ninety-nine thousand four hundred two H-1B petitions approved last year by USCIS, Indian applicants comprised seventy-one percent of total approvals. This represented a substantial concentration of skilled-visa beneficiaries drawn from the Indian professional workforce particularly.
Both proposals have already moved through the White House Office of Management and Budget review. The OPT fee proposal was submitted for review on August twenty, followed by the H-1B rule. The full contents of both measures remain officially confidential pending their formal public release later. This administrative advance suggests the administration intends to pursue systematic tightening of skilled-visa rules comprehensively.
The Indian diaspora faces particular vulnerability given its substantial representation in the American workforce economy. More than five point two million people of Indian origin currently reside in the United States. This large community would face significant uncertainty regarding long-term employment security and visa sponsorship availability substantially. The proposed regulatory changes could create considerable disruption across the Indian professional community in America.
