Foreign Tech Students Are Given More Time to Stay in U.S. After Graduation

With little fanfare, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has extended the amount of time foreign students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics can stay in the United States without a work visa after graduation. The rule was changed in response to the overwhelming demand for skilled-worker visas.

Under the new rule, students will be able to stay in America for “Optional Practical Training” for 29 months after graduation, up from 12 months, without a work visa. In its official rule change [PDF], the department declared the shortage of H-1B visas an “emergency” that justified making the rule change without notice or comment.

This year and last, the cap for H-1B visas — given to skilled workers — was reached almost immediately after the application window opened at the beginning of April. Because H-1B applicants must have a college diploma in hand to apply, students who graduate after April 1 this year were shut out of the process.

High-tech companies, which complain that the United States is not doing a good enough job training home-grown talent in science and math, have been lobbying Congress to increase the visa cap.—Catherine Rampell