Study in the USA for Indian Students: Visa, Costs and OPT

To study full time in the USA you need a place at a school certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a Form I-20 from that school, and an F-1 student visa. You pay the US$350 I-901 SEVIS fee and the US$185 visa application fee, then attend a visa interview. While you study you may work up to 20 hours a week on campus, and afterwards Optional Practical Training (OPT) lets you work in your field for up to 12 months, with a 24-month extension for approved STEM degrees.

Two things changed recently and many older guides miss them. Since 15 September 2026, F-1 students are admitted for a fixed period tied to the I-20 instead of 'duration of status'. And on 8 October 2026 the Department of Homeland Security proposed a US$70,000 fee for each student's first OPT, to be paid by the school. That second item is a proposal, not a rule, and it is explained below.

Step one is admission. Apply to schools that are SEVP-certified, and once you accept an offer the school issues your Form I-20. Step two is paying the I-901 SEVIS fee, which ICE lists at US$350 for F and M applicants. ICE's I-901 page directs payment through fmjfee.com by credit card, or by check, money order or Western Union, so use that site and avoid look-alike payment sites.

Step three is the visa itself. You complete the online DS-160 application, pay the US$185 visa application fee and attend an interview at a US embassy or consulate. The State Department said in June 2025 that all F, M and J applicants will be asked to set their social media profiles to public so that officers can review their online presence. Plan your timing: under the new rules you can enter the USA up to 30 days before the program start date on your I-20, but not earlier.

Visa headlines move fast and often get flattened. The pause on visa appointments in August 2026 applied to immigrant (green card) visas, not student visas, and our explainer on that is linked below. For anything that affects your own case, check the State Department's student visa page and your school's international office.

A DHS final rule published on 17 July 2026 took effect on 15 September 2026. F students used to be admitted for 'duration of status', meaning as long as they stayed enrolled. They are now admitted until the program end date on the I-20, up to a maximum of four years, plus 30 days to arrive and 30 days to leave. The departure period used to be 60 days.

If you need longer, for example a master's that runs over or a PhD that takes more than four years, you apply to USCIS for an extension of stay, after your designated school official (DSO) updates your I-20. Students who were already in the USA on 15 September 2026 can generally stay until the program end date on their I-20 or the end of their OPT, capped at four years, with a 60-day departure period.

The rule also limits switching. At graduate level and above, DHS says students cannot change their education level or their major at any point during the program, and cannot transfer at any point unless the Student and Exchange Visitor Program grants an exception for extenuating circumstances. For a student heading to a master's, that makes the choice of program more important than it used to be.

There is no single US price. The College Board's Trends in College Pricing 2025 gives average published tuition and fees for full-time undergraduates in 2025-26: US$11,950 at public four-year colleges for in-state students, US$31,880 for out-of-state students, and US$45,000 at private nonprofit four-year colleges. These are averages for undergraduate programs, not for master's degrees, and individual schools can be far above or below them.

Your real number is on each school's own cost page and, once you are admitted, on your I-20. Tuition is only part of it: add accommodation, food, insurance and travel, and remember that the visa and SEVIS fees are paid up front.

On campus, an F-1 student may work up to 20 hours a week while school is in session and full time during breaks, according to ICE. Off-campus work needs separate authorisation, for example curricular practical training (CPT) or OPT, arranged through your DSO.

OPT is the main route to US work experience after study. USCIS describes up to 12 months of OPT work authorisation tied to your field of study. If your degree is on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List, you can apply for a further 24-month extension. Under the September 2026 rule, students who file for post-completion OPT or STEM OPT on time do not need a separate extension of stay, and the 30-day departure period follows the end of the OPT period.

H-1B work visas, which some graduates move to after OPT, are a separate employer-sponsored process. Their fees and selection rules have changed repeatedly since 2025 and are being contested in court, so we have not covered them here. Check USCIS before you plan around them.

On 8 October 2026 DHS published a proposed rule, not a final one, that would charge US$70,000 for a student's first OPT and US$30,000 for any later OPT. As written, the school would pay the fee, and it would have to be paid before the DSO records the OPT recommendation in the student's record. The proposal says DSOs are not required to recommend a student for OPT, and that a school can choose not to pay for a particular student.

Comments are open until 9 November 2026. If a final rule follows, DHS proposes it would take effect 60 days after publication and apply to OPT recommendations dated on or after that date. Nothing about OPT fees has been adopted yet, and the final text could differ. What this means for you today: ask each school how it would handle OPT if the fee were adopted, and do not assume either way.

India is the largest source of international students in the USA: IIE's Open Doors 2025 report counts 363,019 Indian students in 2024/25, up 10% on the year before, ahead of China at 265,919. IIE's preliminary survey of more than 825 institutions for fall 2025 found total international enrollment down 1%, new international enrolments down 17%, and graduate enrolments down 12%, while OPT numbers rose 14%.

Those fall-2025 figures are a snapshot of reporting institutions, not the full count, but they explain why some schools are recruiting hard and why policy news matters when you choose a program.

The USA remains the largest destination for Indian students, and the route is clear: SEVP-certified school, I-20, SEVIS fee, visa interview, then fixed-period admission and OPT afterwards. What has changed is how much planning the system now asks of you: a fixed stay with an extension process, a shorter grace period, limits on switching programs at graduate level, and a proposed OPT fee that could change who pays for post-study work.

Do the numbers for the exact program you want, read the school's OPT policy, and check the sources below on the day you apply, because several of these rules are new or still moving.