US tightens OPT visa rules: Students warned of deportation for not reporting jobs within 90 days

With over 2.6 lakh Indian students pursuing higher education in the United States, recent immigration enforcement moves by US authorities have sent ripples of concern across the Indian student community.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun issuing strict warnings to students on Optional Practical Training (OPT) visas, cautioning that failure to report employment within 90 days of starting OPT may lead to termination of their legal status and possible deportation, as reported by Economic Times.

For many Indian students, OPT represents a crucial pathway to gain professional experience and work in the US after graduation. The OPT programme allows eligible graduates to work for up to 12 months (with an additional 24 months for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math - STEM graduates), during which they are permitted a maximum of 90 days of unemployment. 

However, recent enforcement actions have made it clear that students who do not update their employment details within this window risk automatic termination in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), the federal database tracking international students.

According to reports by Inside Higher Ed, at least 35 students have already received such notices, with one US university confirming that 28 of its Indian students were affected. 

These warning letters echo similar directives issued during the Donald Trump presidency in 2020 but are now undersigned by multiple federal agencies, including ICE, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). This signals a renewed and coordinated crackdown on compliance failures.

The timing of these warnings comes amid recent policy changes expanding ICE’s authority to terminate SEVIS statuses, reversing the temporary easing of restrictions that allowed thousands of international students to maintain their status during the COVID-19 pandemic.

University officials and international student advisers are closely monitoring the situation, urging students and other foreign nationals to maintain meticulous records and timely updates of their employment status. Non-compliance could lead to serious consequences, including the initiation of removal proceedings and deportation.