A group of U.S. lawmakers have reintroduced legislation in the House of Representatives to eliminate a program that allows foreign students to stay in the country to work after graduation under certain conditions, a bill if passed may affect tens and thousands of Indians studying in this country.
Congressman Paul A Gosar along with Congressman Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs and Matt Gaetz introduced the Fairness for Highly Skilled Americans Act, a law that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act on the optional practical training (OPT). The OPT is a guest worker program administered by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The bill must go through the Senate before it can be sent to the president for signing into law. Because the Democrats have a majority in both chambers of the US Congress, it is not easy to pass the bill through the Senate.
Gossar alleges that the OPT revoked the H-1B cap by allowing 100,000 admitted as foreign students to work in the United States for up to three years after graduation. He argued that these foreign workers were exempt from salary-based duties and that they were at least 10-15 per cent cheaper than American workers.
Optional Practical Training (OPT) is temporary employment that is directly related to an F-1 student’s major area of study. Eligible students can apply to receive up to 12 months of OPT employment authorization before completing their academic studies (pre-completion) and/or after completing their academic studies (post-completion). However, all periods of pre-completion OPT will be deducted from the available period of post-completion OPT.
Photo by Ben Mater on Unsplash
