The Department of Homeland Security’s recent extension of the time foreign students may work in the U.S. under a student visa is now being challenged in a federal lawsuit by opponents of the H-1B visa program. These opponents, who include organizations such as the Immigration Reform Law Institute, the Programmers Guild, the American Engineering Association and Brightfuturejobs.com, purport that the Bush administration’s extension of the length of student visa extensions from 1 year to 29 months via the Optional Practical Training program exceeded their legal authority and was simply a means to work around the current H-1B visa cap limit of 85,000 per year.

Prior to this recent legislative change, foreign national students traditionally worked for 1 year after graduating from a U.S. institute of higher education while their employers filed for H-1B visas for them. The extension of time allotted for the Optional Practical Training program allows for these individuals to remain in the U.S. for up to 29 months while awaiting an H-1B visa.