Etension in OPT for foreign students in US says Barack Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama has recently extended the length of stay of foreign students in the country on their OPT permits. The new rules also mean that the tuition fees may become cheaper for foreign students while their length of stay will be extended.

The OPT allows its holders who are foreign students in U.S. institutions to work during the course commencement and also after course completion. Given the perennial demand U.S. is displaying in the streams of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the OPT for students who are in the aforementioned programs now will be valid for 29 months beyond their course duration in the U.S. Students pursuing courses in other disciplines can also stay 12 months beyond course completion to find employment and work in the U.S.

 Indicating this, President Barack Obama has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to formulate the immigration rules accordingly to facilitate such changes in the OPT program.

As for year 2013, only 10% of the graduates from masters program in STEM fields remained back in the country to seek employment and the rest 90% has fled back to their homelands and that is a rather worrying concern for U.S. economy.

Reinforcing to the stat, more and more number of people is enrolling for undergraduate and graduate programs in the country’s institutions as there is nearly a 18% increment in the number of people pursuing computer science and math related specializations.