Study RoutesEntry PF-639745 · Page 34 · Stamped OCT 10, 2026
Trump Plan Would Charge Foreign Students $100,000 to Work in U.S.
A Trump administration immigration plan would charge foreign students $100,000 to work in the United States, Forbes reported. The plan has no published effective date, identified implementing agency, or specified visa pathway in the available summary.
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- Proposed charge of $100,000 for foreign students working in the U.S.
- Reported by Forbes
- No effective date, implementing agency, or visa pathway identified in available reporting
- Plan is at proposal stage, not enacted law
- Targets foreign students specifically
A $100,000 charge for foreign students to work in the United States would anchor a Trump administration immigration plan, Forbes reported.
The proposed fee would apply to foreign students seeking U.S. employment after their studies. Forbes' headline does not specify an effective date, the visa pathway affected, or whether the $100,000 represents a one-time payment or a recurring cost.
What does the plan cover?
Forbes' summary identifies three elements:
- The responsible party: foreign students
- The triggering event: U.S. employment
- The proposed amount: $100,000
No additional structural details — annual caps, exemptions, country-specific differentials, or employer obligations — appear in the available reporting. The underlying legal authority, implementing agency, and statutory vehicle are not identified in the headline summary.
Who would be directly affected?
If enacted, the charge would touch three groups identified by the headline language:
- Prospective international applicants weighing U.S. study offers against competing destinations
- Current foreign students at U.S. universities planning post-graduation U.S. employment
- U.S. employers recruiting from the foreign-student pipeline
Each group's decision-making would shift in proportion to its exposure to the proposed fee.
What remains unanswered
Until the administration publishes executive action or proposed regulation, the following remain open:
- When the $100,000 charge would take effect
- Which visa pathway the fee would amend, if any
- Whether the $100,000 would be levied once, annually, or per filing
- Whether any field-specific or country-specific exemptions would apply
- Whether the charge would fall on the student, the employer, or both
The Forbes headline does not resolve any of these questions.
Where to find authoritative information
Readers seeking primary documents should consult:
- The White House press office for executive orders or proclamations
- The Department of Homeland Security for rulemaking under existing immigration statutes
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for updates to form fees and visa-category regulations
Until those offices publish formal language, the $100,000 figure should be treated as a proposal, not a binding rule. Immigration practitioners advising prospective applicants and employers planning long-term staffing should wait for primary documents before recalculating budgets.
How should applicants and employers respond?
Two practical steps apply while the plan remains at the proposal stage:
- Monitor White House, DHS, and USCIS announcements for the controlling policy text
- Delay any large-scale resourcing decisions dependent on foreign-student work authorization until the fee structure, exemptions, and effective date are confirmed
The Forbes headline stands as the first public summary of the plan. Passport File will track the rollout and update readers as soon as official documents appear.
via GN New Visa Programmes (Source)