US Immigration Probes 10,000 Foreign Students Over Alleged OPT Visa Fraud

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has identified nearly 10,000 foreign students, including several Indians, for allegedly misusing the Optional Practical Training (OPT) provision of their student visas by falsely claiming employment with suspicious employers.

The disclosure was made by acting ICE Director Todd Lyons during a press conference on Tuesday, where he said the OPT programme had “become a magnet for fraud” and confirmed that multiple investigations had been launched by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

According to federal investigators, on-ground site inspections found that several OPT beneficiaries were being “managed” by employees operating from India, violating a key programme condition that supervision and training must be carried out from within the United States.

Lyons described the findings of the investigations as deeply concerning.

“We’ve encountered cases involving espionage, biological threats, intellectual property theft, visa and employment fraud, and even scams targeting elderly Americans, all perpetrated by individuals abusing their status as students,” Lyons said.

ICE has positioned the ongoing crackdown as a matter of national security.

“Our nation will not tolerate security threats originating from the foreign student programme,” Lyons further commented, describing the alleged OPT fraud as a direct abuse of the trust extended to foreign nationals studying in the US.

The development comes amid growing scrutiny of the American student visa system under the current administration. Indian students, who form one of the largest groups participating in the OPT programme, are likely to face tighter compliance checks in the coming weeks.

“Instead, OPT ballooned into an uncontrolled guest worker pipeline with hundreds of thousands of foreign students working in the United States. As the programme’s size has exploded, so has the fraud,” Lyons said.

The Optional Practical Training programme allows international students on US student visas to work in the country for up to 12 months after graduation, with extensions of up to 24 additional months available in certain fields. The programme also serves as a pathway to the H-1B work visa sponsored by American employers.

Introduced during the administration of former US President George W. Bush, the OPT programme was initially designed for a limited number of students to receive practical training before returning to their home countries.

(with inputs from The Indian Express)