Program allows int’l STEM grads to stay longer in US

INTERNATIONAL students who earn their degrees in highly-sought STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields may be able to extend their stay in the United States longer.

The revamped STEM Optional Practical Training program, or STEM OPT for short, adds an additional seven months to the previous length of stay required, while offering some safeguards to address labor concerns voiced by hundreds of American workers and STEM students, reported the US News & World Report.

According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records, there are approximately 70,000 students currently in OPT–of those, about 23,000 are studying in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics fields. Some of these students were selected as skilled foreign workers eligible to apply for an H-1B, starting in October 2008, as part of the old program. Others can choose to continue their education, while some will depart the United States.

ICE and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials have estimated that approximately 12,000 people will take advantage of the new STEM extension.

The new STEM OPT rules were initially proposed in October 2015 by the Department of Homeland Security, after a federal judge vacated the previous rules that August. The judge’s action also left an estimated 50,000 STEM workers and their employers hanging, until the DHS drafted a replacement for the public student visa program, which essentially paves the way for hands-on job training and experience after graduation.

According to Numbers USA, the original STEM extension was struck down “because DHS did not go through the public and comment process when they issued the extension in 2008, which violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).”

District of Columbia District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle gave a six-month deadline for a replacement program to be developed, after a technology workers’ labor union filed suit against the first STEM OPT program.

Huvelle’s ruling centered on procedural issues discovered in 2008 with the rule’s original implementation.

DHS proposed the new rule on October 19, 2015, and received over 50,000 public comments. They had until February 12 to establish the rule under the correct APA procedures.

Beyond offering graduates more field experience, the extension serves to give immigrant students more time. “If my work visa gets denied this year, I still have two more opportunities to apply, and I can keep working with the country,” said 24-year-old Shruthi Aramandla, a New York University graduate from India working as an engineer.

According to USCIS, the new STEM program has four new, notable features:

• Extended stay – The old OPT program allowed STEM graduates to stay for up to two and a half years for on-the-job training. The new program extends the time to three years, enabling workers more meaningful time to train in often highly technical STEM jobs. It also provides extra time for those in the process of applying for study grants.

• Protections for American and foreign workers alike – Under the new regulations, employers must submit formal training and mentoring plans (in line with US workers in similar employment positions) to the government for OPT STEM employees. Companies must also pay foreign workers the same wages American counterparts make. STEM students must also not replace a full-time, part-time, temporary or permanent US worker.

• Greater visa opportunity – By extending the OPT STEM program to three years, the new program potentially provides participants a third opportunity to apply for a more permanent H-1B work visa. An estimated 250,000 people applied for this visa in the 2014 fiscal year with only about a third gaining approval.

• Quality education assurances – The new program also offers some safeguards to assure foreign students study at legitimate schools. To work under the OPT STEM program, students must meet requirements such as obtaining their degrees from accredited American institutions. The rule protects students from some disreputable for-profit colleges, and guards the country against frauds who would simply enroll in a degree mill programs to gain the OPT STEM extension.

The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers’ lawsuit brought to light exploitation concerns with the program, regarding replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labor.

“It’s an ongoing assault on American workers,” said John Miano, a lawyer for a technology workers’ union in Washington State. “They are just trying to double down on what they’re doing before. ‘OK, you didn’t like 29 months? We’ll make it 36 months’.”

A hearing on the issue is set for May in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Despite the challenge, according to US News & World Report, ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program will move forward with plans to provide informational sessions about the new program for employers, academic institutions and eligible students. ICE also plans to secure training programs and mandate employer oversight, in order to prevent fraud.

“In our mind, it enhances training and puts safeguards in to make sure that if you are an employer that you are not unfairly disadvantaging US workers,” Rachel Canty, exchange visitor program deputy director, told the New York Times.

Heather Stewart, Counsel & Director of Immigration Policy for the National Association of Foreign Student Affairs, noted, “NAFSA is glad that DHS issued the ruling in this manner because it gives DHS time to educate and train their people to implement it. We look forward to working with SEVP on implementation.”

“The labor market is tight,” said Michael DesRochers, president of Loring Consulting Engineers in New York. “We don’t look at it as the international students are taking away American opportunities. We feel we’re offering to all.”

The new OPT STEM extension will take effect on May 10.