Students from India (72,151) and China (68,847) are accounted for more than half (57%) of all those who were approved for OPT and found jobs from 2012 to 2015, according to a study by the Pew Research Center which had analysed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data received through a Freedom of Information Act request. Other top countries included South Korea (14,242), Taiwan (7,032) and Nepal (5,309).
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The study shows that India and Iran have the highest shares of OPT employees with STEM degrees. High-skilled foreign workers find jobs in the United States under a program known as Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allows the foreign graduates from U.S. universities to work in the country on a temporary basis. Interestingly, only 4 percent of those employed under the OPT program from 2012 to 2015, has worked at the ten largest tech companies in the Fortune 500.
OPT has no cap on the number of foreign graduates who can participate. OPT is not a subject to congressional oversight, which was created in 1947, and can be changed by a U.S. president.
Graduates in STEM fields are accounted for at least 70% of OPT approvals from India, Iran, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from 2012 to 2015, according to Pew’s analysis of USCIS data. Of the 72,151 from India employed under OPT, 84% had STEM degrees, the highest percentage of any origin country. Iran (79%), Bangladesh (74%) and Sri Lanka (70%) also had high shares of STEM graduates. Among those from China, 54% went to STEM graduates.
The Pew data from USCIS showed that the federal government has approved nearly 700,000 OPT applications in the fiscal years 2008 through 2014, as many as those getting the H-1B visas that is now under review by the Trump administration.
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Data from fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2014, shows that 768,214 H-1B visas were awarded, compared with 696,914 OPT approvals. Many of those working in the U.S. under the OPT program go on to apply for H-1B visas to stay longer in the U.S., Pew says.
U.S. college graduates with F-1 visas for foreign students can apply to OPT, and those who get approved can work in the U.S. for up to 12 months in their field of study. Those in STEM fields (Science, technology engineering, and mathematics) field may work in the U.S. for longer – up to 36 months.
By Premji
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