Indian students cleared for re-entry to US after OPT scam

A US district court has approved a stipulated dismissal agreement that lifts sanctions on more than 90 foreign nationals, many of whom are Indian, who were previously denied re-entry to the US or deemed ineligible for visas due to their association with an Optional Practical Training (OPT) fraud committed by their former employers.

These students, who were victimized by fraudulent OPT employers, had faced severe repercussions, including being denied entry into the US and visa ineligibility. One affected individual from Chennai recounted being turned away by US customs officials after a brief vacation, simply because he had briefly worked for a blacklisted company certified for conducting OPT.

Jesse Bless, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, told TOI's Lubna Kably that after extensive negotiations, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agreed to review its records and confirmed that these former students are neither inadmissible to the US nor ineligible for visas solely based on their employment with fraudulent OPT companies. "With the inadmissibility lifted, these plaintiffs have now regained another opportunity to live and work in the United States," Bless said.


OPT allows international students to gain work experience in the US, with STEM students eligible for an additional two-year extension. According to an Open Doors Report, 69,000 of the 2.7 lakh Indian students in the US during the 2022-23 academic year were undergoing OPT.

Jonathan Wasden, another attorney for the plaintiffs, explained that the scam involved companies certified by DHS under the E-Verify system, which aggressively marketed consulting jobs to recent graduates. These companies conducted interviews, offered employment, and charged for dubious training programs, typically under $500. Despite being certified for years, the companies were eventually raided by DHS, which seized employee lists and began matching names, leading to findings of inadmissibility against students.

Wasden criticized DHS for not alerting the public earlier, which could have prevented thousands of students from falling victim to the scam. He noted that students admitted to the US before the scam was uncovered were later made inadmissible, often without due process, leaving them stranded with their possessions in the US.

He advised students to protect themselves by avoiding companies that charge for training and to report suspicious activities through an attorney to DHS proactively. This proactive reporting could offer some protection if the company is later blacklisted.