Andres Pulido, a current graduate of the University of Florida, utilized in October for non-compulsory sensible coaching—the work authorization obtainable to worldwide college students after they graduate—for a job engaged on self-driving vehicles that he was slated to begin in February. He remains to be ready for the authorization to come back by. In the meantime, he has missed out on a number of months of deliberate revenue; he even made the journey by automobile from Florida to California’s Bay Area for the place, however moved again as soon as it turned clear he wouldn’t get his OPT in time.
Pulido is a local of Venezuela, one of many 40 international locations and territories on the Trump administration’s journey ban checklist. In memos launched in late 2025 and early 2026, the federal government expanded the attain of the journey ban to pause the processing of purposes for immigration advantages, together with OPT, for people from these international locations; they might nonetheless apply, however their purposes wouldn’t be reviewed. The pause was meant to final solely till U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had carried out new tips for vetting purposes from these international locations. But 4 months later, processing nonetheless hasn’t resumed, leaving numerous F-1 visa holders like Pulido in limbo. Experts say no steerage has been launched.
Pulido advised Inside Higher Ed he lives together with his spouse, a present Ph.D. pupil, which has made the scenario barely simpler as a result of she is incomes some revenue. Still, his lack of a job has taken a serious toll on their funds. As a end result, he has made the troublesome alternative to begin making use of to positions in different international locations.
“I had to completely change my life once 10 years ago, and I built it here. I have family from Venezuela that are here, and all my friends are here. My career is here, my actual job is here, my network of professionals [is] here,” he mentioned. “It was not straightforward, however it was a really chilly, calculated resolution of, ‘I cannot live. I need to support myself. Nobody else is going to feed me. So, I need to be able to rely on myself and be able to support myself.’
“It was sad, of course, that [in] a country that I do consider to be a champion [of immigration] … I get the feeling that some specific populations just don’t want us here.”
The Cato Institute estimates that about two million complete petitions are impacted, together with a million purposes for work authorization. But consultants say there was no indication from USCIS about when purposes can be reviewed once more, forcing college students like Pulido to make troublesome choices.
“International students from those countries who had been waiting to get their OPT processed [don’t have] a clear pathway forward,” mentioned Miriam Feldblum, president and CEO of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. “So, it’s not a ban, but it’s still kind of in the adjudication black hole. Students don’t know whether it’s just a matter of waiting longer.”
She fears that the pause could also be a part of the Trump administration’s bigger plans to dispose of OPT.
“This current administration has been signaling very clearly that they’re seeking to end postgraduate optional practical training. The former secretary of homeland security, the current secretary of homeland security, Republican senators have all been kind of waving the specter that there will be a proposed rule to end OPT,” mentioned Feldblum.
In an announcement to Inside Higher Ed, USCIS wrote, “Verifying identities and personal histories of aliens from various countries requires a rigorous process—one that prioritizes the safety of the American people. USCIS has paused adjudications for aliens from President Trump’s designated high-risk countries while we work to ensure they are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
But the language USCIS has used to debate the pause with different information shops has strayed away from the nationwide safety narrative to explain OPT as something that is “undermining” American employees.
Far-Reaching Impacts
The pause is creating monetary hardship for a lot of worldwide graduates. On prime of the lack of revenue, they’ve paid a number of hundred {dollars} to use for OPT, and a few college students, together with Pulido, paid an additional $1,800 for the applying to be expedited earlier than they discovered of the pause. He’s sought a refund however mentioned he was advised it couldn’t be offered as a result of pause.
Beyond the monetary impacts, beneath OPT laws F-1 visa holders can solely be unemployed for a set variety of days earlier than they violate their nonimmigrant standing.
For Kimberley Duru, a medical pupil born in Nigeria who has been finding out and dealing in the U.S. since 2011, the freeze threatens to upend her complete profession path. She is slated to start her residency this summer season. But she gained’t be allowed to take action until she is allowed to work in the U.S.
She utilized for OPT in February, which she mentioned is a standard step for worldwide medical college students earlier than they switch to a brand new visa kind, like a J-1 or H-1B visa, to finish their residency. Her software has been in limbo ever since.
“I’m working towards a career in medicine and all the investment of time, effort, money that goes into it. And now to get to the end of it and to have this hurdle and to have matched to a residency program is very, very distressing and very, very unfortunate,” she mentioned. “Very cruel, to put it mildly.”
While the hospital the place Duru was slated to finish her residency has been understanding, she mentioned, she doesn’t suppose they’ll have the ability to maintain the spot for her if she isn’t licensed in time.
Students and others affected by the pause have begun submitting lawsuits, hoping judges will order USCIS to course of their petitions. Zachary New, an legal professional with the legislation agency Joseph & Hall, which is representing college students in two lawsuits contesting the pause, mentioned the scenario is getting dire for a lot of of these affected.
“Anybody who’s running out of living expenses, who’s unable to continue working, who needs to continue their education but can’t, their only real option is to leave the United States. For a lot of people right now, that’s not really an option. If you’re Iranian, [your options] are wait five months for work authorization or to go back to a war zone,” he mentioned. “It’s a rock and a hard place.”
According to New, about 30 lawsuits have been filed difficult the processing freeze, and judges have granted 4 injunctions requiring USCIS to course of these plaintiffs’ petitions.
The program chief of Project Unpause, a grassroots group advocating for USCIS to start processing the purposes once more, mentioned that presently the one technique to transfer them ahead appears to be to sue. (The program chief requested anonymity, as a result of she, too, is an immigrant impacted by the processing freeze.) But even that pathway is tough for a lot of to entry; some legislation companies are asking plaintiffs for a number of thousand {dollars}, which is financially unfeasible, particularly for individuals who are out of labor as a result of pause.
Looking Ahead
International schooling leaders say they’re working carefully with college students whose purposes are presently frozen, however many aren’t positive about the perfect recommendation to offer.
Jack Miner, vice provost for enrollment administration on the University of Cincinnati, mentioned a few dozen college students are presently going through delayed begin dates or difficulties in contract negotiations for jobs they’re slated to start in the following few months. Elizabeth Leibach, an affiliate with the worldwide schooling agency Gateway International, mentioned she’s heard of scholars having to show down job presents from main corporations.
Shannon Bedo, one other Gateway affiliate, mentioned the perfect path for some college students could also be to proceed finding out.
“If it’s getting close to what would’ve been 90 days of unemployment and they don’t want to risk it, they need to look at changing to a new degree program,” she mentioned. “Currently, if a student wants to change from a bachelor’s degree to a master’s degree, they can go ahead and do that. So, we’re actually seeing more students say, ‘I’m not going to apply for OPT, I’m going to go ahead and apply for a master’s degree.’”
Some foreign-born school working in the U.S. are additionally impacted by the pause. One professor at a public college, who requested anonymity, mentioned he was accepted for a National Interest Waiver course of, which presents people whose abilities can be useful to the U.S. a pathway to everlasting residency.
He formally utilized for his inexperienced card in November, a month earlier than the freeze started. Because he was accepted for the NIW, he mentioned, he had already undergone a rigorous screening course of.
“The human impact is immediate and concrete. I have not been able to visit my parents in my home country since 2023. I cannot travel internationally for research conferences. I have missed opportunities to apply for rare, highly specialized research positions, making my future in the US feel uncertain, which causes a significant psychological burden,” he wrote in an e-mail to Inside Higher Ed. “Even taking national security seriously, this kind of broad and indefinite pause feels like a war of attrition on people who have followed every rule and paid tens of thousand[s of] dollars in immigration and lawyers [sic] fees.”
“My concern is that freezing large numbers of already‑screened, law‑abiding applicants creates backlogs and prolonged limbo that can undermine timely, individualized vetting rather than improving it.”
