Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

As a side effect, this could reduce the pipeline of foreign students coming in on F1 with plans to transition to a work visa over time.

F1 -> OPT -> H1 bridge is way more expensive now.

Universities are bound to lose a ton of money due to this. Those outside of the top 50 will likely get hammered.

I'm a little bit confused by the text of the proclamation. It says people outside the country have to pay a $100k fee. Isn't an F1 student on OPT inside the country and not subject to the fee? Or are they required to leave the country to apply and are subject to it.

The proclamation gives me the impression that foreign students are exempt from the fee.

They are not directly affected when applying for h1b but think about it what this means to both employers and students. It's a signal that immigration policy can change on a whim. For employers, hiring foreigners has always been cumbersome and now it's even worse due to the uncertainty. For students who starts working on h1b, you are in "immigration jail" in the US for years