NEW DELHI: There is some good news for international students in the United States. A US district court judge in New Jersey has refused to stay the Bush administration’s decision to extend the duration of student (F-1 ) visas by 17 months.

Earlier F-1 visa holders had the option of a 12 month or one year optional practical training, during which time they could work in the US on their student visa. In May, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services extended the optional practical training (OPT) period to 29 months. At present, there are nearly 1,00,000 Indian students on F-1 visas in the US.

The Bush administration’s logic for extending the OPT period was to give students a better chance at getting temporary skilled worker (H-1 B) visas. The decision was taken after it was seen that despite setting aside 20,000 H-1 B visas for foreigners with masters’ degrees from US universities, students were unable to access these as the quota was being filled by early April, that is before the students completed their course of study.

The USCIS starts accepting application against the H-1 B cap six months before the fiscal year begins in October. Opponents of the H-1 B visa argued that extending the OPT period was merely a backdoor route to facilitate foreign workers entry into the US

source: The Economic Times, India – 16 Aug, 2008