US Immigration Authorities Claim OPT Visa Fraud Involving Thousands of Students

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In a joint operation, US Immigration & Customs Enforcement and USCIS have claimed widespread fraud in the Optional Practical Training or OPT visa program that spreads across thousands of foreign students and dubitable employers across the United States. Recently, at a Press Conference, ICE Director Todd Lyons reported that investigations have churned up empty offices, fake work locations that allegedly promised to employ international students despite absence of any real business activities.

Here, our EB1A consultants have commented on this news in detail.

What did the ICE director reveal about the ongoing OTP fraud?

In the press conference, director Todd Lyons revealed information about an ongoing investigation into a fraudulent network of ‘ghost’ employers and international students. The investigating officials have stated that they have already identified over 10,000 foreign students affiliated with the highly suspicious employers. In Lyon’s words, the OPT visa program has already been “ballooned into an uncontrolled guestworker pipeline.” In his verbatim: “Today, we are announcing that we have identified over 10,000 foreign students who claim to be working for highly suspicious employers.”

What is the OPT program and under what conditions does it operate?

OPT or Optional Practical Training is essentially temporary employment that directly ties up to an F-1 student visa. OPT employment applies for both pre-completion and post-completion of academic studies. OPT is only offered for not more than 12 months. However, all periods of pre-completion OPT will be cropped away from the remaining period of post-completion OPT. Interestingly, recently, the students’ visa laws including F-1 are about to witness a fresh set of changes. And, the F-1 OPT program is likely to fall under it.

Present crackdown into OPT frauds

Federal immigration investigators say recent inspections across multiple U.S. states have uncovered what officials describe as a troubling network of questionable employers, shell operations, and potentially fraudulent work locations tied to the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program.

According to ICE officials, investigators conducted site visits in states including Texas, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Florida. During these inspections, authorities reportedly encountered vacant office buildings, locked commercial spaces, and addresses linked to large numbers of foreign students despite little evidence of active business operations. “We’ve discovered empty buildings, locked doors and addresses where hundreds of foreign students are allegedly employed,” Lyons said. He further noted that multiple OPT employers were frequently registered under the same address, even though “none actually lease the facility.”

Officials also alleged that some listed work locations were in fact private residential properties. In several instances, residents answering the door reportedly denied any knowledge of the companies operating under those addresses. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers additionally claimed to have identified employers associated with tax liens, pending lawsuits, suspicious financial activity, and incomplete employment documentation.

HSI Executive Associate Director John Connick said investigators recently inspected 18 OPT-related work sites in North Texas and identified what he described as “coordinated employer clusters” operating from the same commercial complexes. “We found shell company schemes where multiple OPT employers are established by the same owner operator,” Connick said.

Authorities further alleged that some businesses significantly understated the number of foreign nationals they employed. In one Texas-based case, officials claimed a company reported employing only three OPT workers, while government records allegedly connected more than 500 foreign students to the same employer. Investigators also asserted that several companies maintained HR and management operations overseas, particularly in India, while using PO boxes or vacant premises as their official U.S. business addresses.

With all these details coming out, there is certainly a cloud looming over the OTP program. To stay updated on all the changes, stay tuned to our blog section. We wish you a safe and stress free immigration journey ahead.